American Propaganda from the Spanish-American War to Iraq

Steven R. Brydon

doi:10.5771/9781793626141

Summary

In this book, Steven R. Brydon analyzes American war propaganda spanning from the Spanish-American War through the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Brydon argues that many of these wars were fought based on false or misleading narratives, beginning with blaming Spain for the sinking of the Maine and continuing, most recently, with charges that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and was involved in the terrorist attacks of September 11. Research has shown that well-told stories can affect the public’s beliefs, attitudes, and actions, and Brydon has identified some of these recurring stories that have been told to support and sustain each war during this time period. Using Fisher’s narrative paradigm, Brydon critically evaluates these “war stories” to determine if they possessed narrative coherence and fidelity that provided good reasons to go to war, rather than simply the appearance of these qualities. The responsibility, Brydon stresses, is on the media and on academics to view future war narratives through a critical lens, in order to best inform the American people. Scholars of media studies, history, military studies, American studies, and international relations will find this book particularly useful.

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Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2021
ISBN-Print: 978-1-7936-2613-4
ISBN-Online: 978-1-7936-2614-1
Publisher: Lexington, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 308
Product type: Book Titles

1. Dedication No access
2. Contents No access
3. 1. Note No access
4. Acknowledgments No access
1. Media Effects No access
2. Perspectives on Propaganda No access
3. Recognizing Propaganda No access
4. Summary No access
5. Notes No access
1. Transportation Theory No access
2. The Narrative Paradigm No access
3. Selecting the Artifacts No access
4. Summary No access
5. Notes No access
1. Prelude to War No access
2. Commodore Dewey Destroys the Spanish Fleet No access
3. War Stories from Cuba—The Rough Riders No access
4. The Philippines Fall No access
5. Cuba: Colony or Protectorate? No access
6. Aftermath: Insurgency in the Philippines No access
7. Assessing the Narrative No access
8. Notes No access
1. American “Neutrality” No access
2. The 1916 Campaign—He Kept Us Out of War No access
3. Wilson Prepares the Country for War No access
4. War is Declared No access
5. War Propaganda/Silencing Dissent No access
6. The Legacy of the Great War No access
7. Assessing the Narrative No access
8. Notes No access
1. 1940 Presidential Campaign No access
2. “A Date Which Will Live in Infamy” No access
3. Official War Information (Propaganda) No access
4. The War Correspondent No access
5. Popular Movies No access
6. Radio No access
7. Portraying the Germans No access
8. Portraying the Japanese No access
9. The War Ends No access
10. Assessing the Narrative No access
11. Notes No access
1. The Cold War and Containment No access
2. Failure to Assure South Korea’s Security No access
3. UN “Police Action” No access
4. MacArthur’s Inchon Miracle No access
5. Government and Media Propaganda No access
6. North to Pyongyang and the Yalu No access
7. China Intervenes No access
8. Two Narratives Clash: Victory or Limited War? No access
9. Truce Talks No access
10. Eisenhower Promises to “Go to Korea” No access
11. The Armistice—No Peace Treaty No access
12. War Crimes and Atrocities No access
13. Korea’s Nuclear Threat in the Twenty-first Century No access
14. Assessing the Narratives No access
15. Notes No access
1. Prelude to War No access
2. The Torch is Passed No access
3. LBJ Takes the Reins No access
4. The Gulf of Tonkin Incidents No access
5. Escalation No access
6. War of Attrition No access
7. Prowar Propaganda No access
8. Vietnam Becomes a Quagmire No access
9. The Tet Offensive No access
10. Nixon Promises “Peace with Honor” No access
11. War Protests Expand No access
12. The Paris Peace Accords No access
13. Fall of Saigon No access
14. Public Opinion No access
15. The Legacy of Vietnam No access
16. Assessing the Narratives No access
17. Notes No access
1. The Cold War Ends: A New World Order Begins No access
2. Operation Desert Shield No access
3. Saddam as Hitler No access
4. The Shield Becomes a Storm No access
5. 100 Hours of Ground War No access
6. Muzzling the Media No access
7. The Aftermath No access
8. Ending the Vietnam Syndrome No access
9. Assessing the Narrative No access
10. Notes No access
1. Bush’s 9/11 Narrative No access
2. Operation Enduring Freedom No access
3. Expanding the War on Terror No access
4. Selling the War: The Media Buy Bush’s Story No access
5. Operation Iraqi Freedom No access
6. Mission Accomplished? No access
7. Iraq Becomes a Quagmire No access
8. The Freedom Agenda No access
9. The Surge in Iraq No access
10. Assessing Bush’s Iraq Narrative No access
11. Obama Inherits Two Wars No access
12. Killing bin Laden No access
13. The Rise of ISIS No access
14. Assessing Obama’s Narrative No access
15. Ending Forever Wars No access
16. Are the Forever Wars Really Over? No access
17. Conclusion No access
18. Notes No access
1. Reoccurring War Stories No access
2. Assessing the Narratives for War No access
3. Notes No access
Bibliography No access Pages 273 - 294
Index No access Pages 295 - 308