While today's presidential tweets may seem a light-year apart from the scratch of quill pens during the era of the American Revolution, the importance of political communication is eternal. This book explores the roles that political narratives, media coverage, and evolving communication technologies have played in precipitating, shaping, and concluding or prolonging wars and revolutions over the course of US history. The case studies begin with the Sons of Liberty in the era of the American Revolution, cover American wars in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and conclude with a look at the conflict against ISIS in the Trump era. Special chapters also examine how propagandists shaped American perceptions of two revolutions of international significance: the Russian Revolution and the Chinese Revolution. Each chapter analyzes its subject through the lens of the messengers, messages, and communications-technology-media to reveal the effects on public opinion and the trajectory and conduct of the conflict. The chapters collectively provide an overview of the history of American strategic communications on wars and revolutions that will interest scholars, students, and communications strategists.
Introduction: Message, Messenger, Medium, and Political Environment Andrea J. Dew, Marc A. Genest, and S. C. M. Paine Part I. Introduction Committees of Correspondence and Early Newspapers Marc A. Genest1. The Message Heard "Round the World" and the First American Political Campaign Marc A. Genest2. Why Communications Mattered in the War of 1812 Troy Bickham Part II. Introduction Mass Circulation Newspapers, Magazines, and the Telegraph Marc A. Genest 3. The Communications Revolution during the US Civil War Martin J. Manning4. The Cuban Junta in Exile and the Origins of the Spanish-American War Michelle D. Getchell5. Narrating the War in the Philippines, 1899-1902 David J. Silbey 6. John Reed and US Perceptions of the Russian Revolution Bruce A. Elleman7. Theodore Roosevelt's Verbal Insurgency against Woodrow Wilson in World War I J. Lee Thompson Part III. Introduction Early Mass Media: Print and Radio Marc A. Genest 8. Edgar Snow and Shaping US Perceptions of the Chinese Civil War S. C. M. Paine 9. Franklin D. Roosevelt and World War II Michael G. Carew 10. Selling a Limited War in Korea, 1950-53 Steven Casey Part IV. Introduction Mass Media: Print, Radio, Television, and Cable Marc A. Genest 11. How Presidents Explained Vietnam, 1954-75 David Kaiser12. American Wartime Communication Strategies during the Gulf War Judith Baroody Part V. Introduction The Twenty-First Century Information Age: Print, Radio, Cable TV, Internet, and Social Media Andrea J. Dew and Marc A. Genest 13. Struggling to Overcome the Afghan Taliban's Master Narratives Thomas H. Johnson and Matthew C. DuPee 14. The Challenge of Outcommunicating the Islamic State Haroro J. Ingram and Craig A. Whiteside15. Communicating the Global War on Terror from Speeches to Tweets Andrea J. DewConclusion: Tweaking the Tweets Andrea J. Dew, Marc A. Genest, S. C. M. Paine List of Contributors Index
