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Selling War to America From the Spanish American War to the Global War on Terror
Eugene Secunda, Terence P. Moran
Book Code: C9523
ISBN: 0-275-99523-2
ISBN-13: 978-0-275-99523-2
240 pages, n/a
Praeger Security International General Interest-Cloth
Publication: 8/30/2007
List Price: $49.95 (UK Sterling Price: £27.95)
Availability: In Stock
Media Type: Hardcover
Also Available: Ebook
Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Subjects: Reviews:
  • Authors Secunda and Moran investigate how the US goes to war--from the Spanish-American War to the "war on terror"--with the thesis that several administrations used propaganda to sell war to the American public. In the case of wars declared by Congress, administrations were often aided by third parties and fortuitous events: the sinking of the Maine, and a jingoistic Hearst-Pulitzer press's call for war with Spain; in WWI, U-boat attacks, the sinking of the Lusitania, and the British invention of bogus atrocities to arouse the public; in WWII, isolationist America's response to Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. The authors find that undeclared wars were often prompted by presidential actions: Korea was a UN "police action"; Vietnam was fought to halt the spread communism; the Gulf War ostensibly was fought to restore an insubstantial Arab "democracy" (Kuwait) and retaliate for "atrocities" (staged and promoted by a public relations firm). The authors devote major attention to the Iraq War, instigated by doubtful CIA intelligence and phantom weapons of mass destruction in a nation not proven to be a sponsor of terror. The authors argue that Bush and Cheney sold the war by exploiting post-9/11 fears. A provocative book. Recommended. General readers, all undergraduate students, graduate students, and research faculty.
    —Choice     April 2008
  • Endorsement From Stuart Ewen, Distinguished Professor
    Ph.D. Programs in History and Sociology
    The CUNY Graduate Center
    Department of Film & Media Studies
    Hunter College, CUNY:     Winston Churchill said that for war to be waged, it must be done behind a "bodyguard of lies." Selling War to America provides a detailed look at the way this premise has been adhered to by American leaders for more than a century. Today, with our nation mired in a war that was spawned by a remarkably cynical campaign of toxic salesmanship, this book is of particular importance.
Description: Battles are won in combat. Wars are won by winning the hearts and minds of the people. For more than one hundred years, American governments have tried to "sell" wars to America. Lies were told and truths withheld because government and military leaders did not trust the American people to make appropriate decisions concerning our national security. The attacks of September 11, 2001, on The World Trade Center Towers and the Pentagon have summoned the American people to "a war on terrorism." The U.S. government is now trying to mobilize American public opinion to support this war. But this is just the most recent example of how our government has sought to enlist broad public support for the wars it has waged. Since the end of the 19th century, the relative skillfulness of the U.S. government's propaganda efforts have largely determined the American public's willingness to support the wars the United States has waged. The job of informing and persuading America to support its war efforts has become increasingly more challenging as media technologies, like instant global coverage of television news and the Internet, reach into every American home. Selling War to America begins its examination with the U.S. Government's campaign to instigate a war with Spain and ends with a review of the methods the government is using now to encourage support for the War Against Terrorism. The book analyzes each of these wars within the context of the techniques that the government used to generate public support, also examining the results of propaganda efforts, both before and after each conflict. From these historical analyses, noting both the blunders and the triumphs of the past century, Selling War to America pinpoints the pitfalls and offers the keys to successfully persuading the American public to support wars that must be fought. that must be fought.
LC Card Number: 2007016229
LCC Class: JA85
Dewey Class: 355
PDF Catalogs:
PSI Public Library Spring 2008.pdf
Academic Library Fall 2008.pdf
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