Prosperity. And the American People were happy in suburban homes with their nuclear families. I like ike. Its so simple and it conveys that happiness. This idea, however, is a myth. And it is a political construction. The 1950s, in fact, it was a time wrought with racial discrimination, conflict, intense political and social pressures to conform to a suburban ideal that imposed gender hierarchies and mandated heterosexuality in the law. It was a time in which anti communism targeted the liberal reform impulses of the new deal and often anticommunists took away civil liberties. These are all areas of political pressure in terms of enforcing certain ideals and resisting against those that we will look at next week. I like ike, as a political construct, shifted attention away from those divisions and it created a sense of consensus. In many ways, again, this is a political construction. At the root of it was an innovative and transformative Marketing Campaign that transformed a military hero into a political celebrity. And he used that attention to win the presidency. Often we think of john f. Kennedy or Ronald Reagan as ushering in the television presidency, but, in fact, it was Dwight Eisenhower. I cant nest the power of television to win the presidency and to put forward his vision of america and the world and this is what we are going to look at today. Dwight eisenhower brought several important developments to the modern american presidency, through his leadership style and organizational approach. Doing this, he built on a lot of the transformations we already looked at this semester. For example, Franklin Roosevelt launched the executive office of the presidency and last week we looked at how harry truman extended it. With the National Security state. Dwight eisenhower formalized it. He ran his office very much like he did the military. The bureaucracy became very entrenched and well executed in the american presidency under eisenhower. For example, he had weekly Cabinet Meetings and form the office of Congressional Liaison so that he could have a formal link to the legislative process. This was especially important because throughout the 1950s, the Democratic Party controlled congress. So eisenhower recognized that to get things done, he needed to have a smooth operation in terms of links with congress. But he also brought this organizational focus to the shifting media environment and transforms the white house into a production studio. To do that, he worked very closely with hollywood figures and madison avenue Television Executives and advertising companies, to navigate the new, mass medium of television. It ultimately really transformed american political communication during the 1950s. So, the postworld war ii era is a key moment to understand the rise of entertainment, advertising, television and hollywood in american politics, because television really does drastically change the political theme during the 1950s. So the question that i want us to think about today as we study this particular period is, how does television change leadership styles . How does it change strategies of political communication and what is needed to succeed politically . And the key question we will come back to at the end of class is, does television revolutionize the american presidency or does it build on trends that are already in place . So, to get at that question we need to start by thinking about what are the trends that are already in place . Does television launch a significant break in terms of Leadership Strategy and communication strategy . So, what trends were already in place before the launch of television in the 1950s . What does Theodore Roosevelt bring to the presidency . Theodore roosevelt increased Media Connections at the beginning of the 20th century to start formalizing the process of the executive office in the media. Excellent. Didnt he also set up the west wing as a source to have the press within the white house yes. In order to have a connection with them, as well. Yes. He saw the press as an asset, something he wanted to capitalize on to control and help shape Public Opinion. Excellent. Caroline . He also had the fireside chats, so there was already this idea that there was this personalized president. If every person has a radio in their home he can listen to them and he is using rhetoric that is easy to understand and not super complicated political jargon. Yes. So Franklin Roosevelt really brings in this idea of the fireside chats. Theodore roosevelt uses the bully pulpit. He creates these relationships with journalists and uses Public Opinion to launch and advocate for very specific policies. Franklin roosevelt takes this a step further. He capitalizes on radio and uses that to create an intimate connection with the american public. And i am going to play you a quick clip, just to give you a sense of what this sounded like. Again, thinking about if you were a listener. You were tuning into your radio during the 1930s to listen to your president. This would have been what you heard. Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States. My friends, i want to talk for a few minutes with the people of the United States about banking. To start with the comparatively few who understand the mechanics of banking, but more particularly with the overwhelming majority of you who use banks for the making of deposits and withdrawing of checks. What did he do, just in that very simple opening . He definitely personalizes the chat. He uses i, you, we, and he creates this personal link between the presidency and the people, so that they feel like he is on their side and they also have a place in this huge, bureaucratic thing that he has begun to create. Absolutely. Personalizing the presidency. That is so key. For those of you who looked at a lot of critics of new deal programs, how does he bypass them with the radio . If someone doesnt agree with a particular program, what is he able to do with radio . He is able to directly appeal to the American People with the radio and bypass, say, newspapers with an editorial slant against new deal policies and just to work around old institutions that were against him. Absolutely. That is really key, thinking about the power that this gives. It creates that personal relationship, the intimacy between the president and an individual, in their home. And then it also allows him to challenge the narrative. Overwhelmingly at this time people got their information from newspapers and many newspaper editors were against the new deal, overwhelmingly. Newspapers were more conservative, more critical of a lot of roosevelt policies. So the radio becomes a new opportunity to connect directly to audiences. And if you recall, it is not just radio that he uses. He also used theaters and Motion Pictures to sell certain programs. He capitalized on the newsreels that wouldve been shown at the beginning of a Motion Picture feature, but he also worked with a variety of different studios in hollywood to create production shorts like this one, which promoted the National Recovery administration. [ applause ] you and you and you, youve got a president now he gave the land a new deal. You hold the new deal. You, and you, and you, shoulders to the plow. He gave us what we asked for, now pay him back somehow. Step out front, and give a man a job. And give a man a job. In the old name of roosevelt, make the old heart sound. You take this message straight from the president and give a man a job. You look like a banker who drives a car . I drive it myself sir, have a cigar. Take your cigar and hire a chauffeur and keep a man from becoming a loafer. You look like a grocer . No sir, my job is extermination. You must give your assistance each a nice weekend vacation. We want you to hire a crowd. You will hang up this sign, it means no rats allowed. And how about you . I am a very sick woman. Oh. Hypochondriac. You must get something to soothe you. Two for halitosis. One for eczema, bronchitis, or any other kind of an itis, that will delight us. That way madam, you will help to end unemployment. Now, listen to me, everybody. Step out, get back, and give a man a job. You know that. I know it. Now, step up and give a man a job. You know who is president of the nra . No . Ill tell you. You take this message straight from the president and give a man a job. [ applause ] so what does this do that is different from the fireside chats . Go ahead, brent. It turns president ial policy into an entertainment product. It is very much like the beginning of the whole concept of marketing. Absolutely. Excellent. Excellent. Kayla . I was going to say it is no longer the president advocating for himself, but it is normal people advocating for the president. That normal people would want the president and are very much for his policies. And that he has caused the economic boom and prosperity in the country. So the focus, the hero of this story, is Franklin Roosevelt. He is featured at the end, his portrait, but he has a variety of other people helping sell this. A comedienne in this capacity. A variety of celebrities come out for Franklin Roosevelt to do this. Radio spokesman and personalities are all selling the president for him. Again, a different kind of Production Team in terms of selling a particular policy. Excellent. Adam . It kind of creates the soundbite. You can take different snippets of what the guy is saying. Give back to the president or give a man a job. Those are easy to remember jingles, so you could put those in radio advertisements that appeal to a general audience. They will remember that message, whether or not they have heard th remember give a man a job. Hae absolutely the slogan so lp. Again bringing some of these , e features of advertising at this hollywood, bringing them into politics to sell particular policies. Brin and the only reason you will not be humming, give a man a job later this day is because youre going to hum the i like ike one because its a lot catchier. Lucas . I thought it was interesting talking about, you know, holding the president up but also using it as a selling point. When we think about selling a president or candidate we think of getting votes but in this case it was actually getting th people involved in a specific cd policy so its actually helpinge the common ttinman, or the midd class man to come out and, without you, we cant do this but with you you can be part of this grander thing thats t you, helping all americans. Andcant that is really keye well when we think about media. And new media and the presidency because, really, effective president s are able to use new media to win elections but then also to govern, to use it as a d tool to sell their agenda as ecn well. Andt also making that transiti communication on the campaign o trail to communication once in office is really key. Unicatio and this is why what dwight key. Eisenhower does with television is also really important because he follows that trajectory. Y. In terms of using new media to win an election andfo then reshe how hewin governs and how he s the agenda, as lucas pointed ane out. Againtsagen we see a lot of the possibilities in terms of presenting an agenda, shaping o Public Opinion andss promoting y personality that comes with radio and Motion Pictures. So what about television . Does television bring something fundamentally new to american ac politics . Because i think it reallyan conveys how dramatically television grew and reshaped american politics. In 1949 only 172,000 Television Sets had sold. Only that number jumped to over 52 million by 1953. This is an incredibly dramatic growth of a new technology that forced politicians to grapple with presenting themselves and t their policies, to voters through tv screens rather than g newspaper articles, radio ticles broadcasts, or even these motioe picture shorts. And one of the key things to think about is that this growth of a new technology caused y tremendous anxiety and concern. M and its really important to understand that this is post world war ii that it becomes so powerful. There was deep concernwar overe in manipulative power of propaganda at this time and the ways it could be used to undermine democracy and to promote to tal yaren governments after all demr adolf hitler and theac nazi par in germany had a very effective propaganda machine. Its part of how they were able to consolidate power by limitinn information over new medias. So, too, did Joseph Stalin in li the soviet union. Soviet these concerns about the manipulative power of the new media and even old media, Motion Pictures in particular were at the core of a lot of communist investigations, particularly tht ones that featured the Motion Picture industry in 1947. The the central question that was i debated in the halls of congrest as a variety of w actors and studio executives came to actors washington, d. C. To testify about their political activity o wasli were they using they entertainment . Were they using their celebrityi for undemocratic purposes . One anticommunist film critic told the House Committee of unamerican activities that, quote, glamour is appealing. The communists have made shrewd isd excellent use of it for their a purpose. They are trying to bedazzle of audiences with celebrity. Y. Th andeir so this is a question tu pervaded national politics. Is entertainment media, Motion Pictures and this new media of television that people werent u quite sure whatre to do with, i this going to undermine democracy . Does it focus more attention on . Entertainment . And does can it be used as a way to advanced communism . Nce these were central questions that people had. Ques so these fears of entertainment propaganda and manipulation are really important to understand when we see theopaga different ways that politicians grappled with television. Ways th some of them embraced television and the opportunities that it had to offer. But overwhelmingly in the 1950s they were very wary of it. And the argument that we dont want to in a manipulate others byem embracing advertising in madison avenue that really dominated Public Discourse during the 1950s. For example, the democratic nominee for the presidency in aa 1952 and 1956, adadai stevensono looked that sold president s d as commodities, the idea that you can merchandise candidates s for high office like breakfast cereal i think is the ultimate indignity to the democratic atip process, argued Adlai Stevenson. He wanted to use this medium to perhaps expand his message, to deliver longer speeches, to emphasize his oratory. He w but not to use any of those slick sales techniques that madison avenue executives were using to sell cereal. Dison he wanted to use this new medium to perhaps expand the message n that he was alreadydy deliverin to audiences. And so what he did during the 1952 election is that he did allow some advertisers to create some catchy jingles for him but he refused to be a part of that production. He said if you want to do that the way that we did with radio, thats fine but im not going t appear in these short advertisements. Theres no way that i can talk about a policy in 30 seconds so instead talk Adlai Stevenson wo with thead, Democratic National committee and purchased longer chunks of time. E so an hour, perhaps, where he t would then go in front of a tv camera and deliver a long speech about a particular policy. Well, if youre going to purchase an hour of tv time, and you have a limited budget, whene will that time be . An any thoughts . A when can you afford that time . Ryan . Whenever its cheapest. Absolutely. Which would probably be lite at night when its not prime time. Exactly. So when Adlai Stevenson did appear on tv it wasni late at night when the only people watching were perhaps those people who were committed late democrats that wanted to watch y what Adlai Stevenson had to sa. So thats really the only time he appeared in these purchased periods on television. And he had his Advertising Team make ads, again, that reflected radio strategies. So im going to show you two of them and i want you to think about how these are perhaps more reminiscent of something youd hear over the radio than something youd see on tv. Old macdonald had a farm back in 31 conditions filled him with ld alarm back in 31 31. Not a chick chick here not a moo cow there just broken down farmland everywhere to the days of 1931 when he didnt have bread, when the day was done farmer mac knows what to do dn election day of 52 wa going tos godo out with ever in the usa to vote for Adlai Stevenson tt keep his farm this way stev with aenso vote vote here and vote vote there and a vote for stevenson everywhere for if its good for mac you see its good for you and its good for me loves that farm, vote stevenson today and one more and then well discuss. Ike . Bob. Ike. Bob. Im so glad were friends again, bob. Yes, ike, we agree on everything. Lets never separate again, bob. Again, ike. Bob. Ike. Bob. Ike. Will ike and bob really li happily ever after . Is the white house big enough for both of them . Stay tuned for a musical the interlude. Reuben reuben ive been thinking bob and ike now think alike with the general in the white house whod give the orders bob or ike lets vote for adlai and the john sogein bob refers to robert, who was the other contender for the presidency in the Republican Party. And he was the more conservative candidate. And