Selling War in a Media Age: The Presidency and Public Opinion in the American Century

"Asks whether it is ever possible for a president to nudge the nation toward war without lying. And if he does, is it sometimes all right? Most of these authors would vote no."-- Columbia Journalism Review "It was a pleasant and poignant surprise to find an afterword written by the late David Halberstam, one of the best reporter-historians of the last century. It may be his last major piece of writing. . . . It is an appropriate way to wind up the collection, because his words are a sobering reminder that the press is important yet not all-powerful in a democracy. Presidents long ago mastered the tools at their disposal to achieve policy ends."-- American Journalism "American history at its best--insightful and revealing about the past, yet at the same time illuminating the vital questions of our own day."--Jeffrey A. Engel, Texas A&M University George W. Bush's "Mission Accomplished" banner in 2003 and the misleading linkages of Saddam Hussein to the 9/11 terrorist attacks awoke many Americans to the techniques used by the White House to put the country on a war footing. Yet Bush was simply following in the footsteps of his predecessors, as the essays in this standout volume reveal in illuminating detail. Written in a lively and accessible style, Selling War in a Media Age is a fascinating, thought-provoking, must-read volume that reveals the often-brutal ways that the goal of influencing public opinion has shaped how American presidents have approached the most momentous duty of their office: waging war. Kenneth Osgood , associate professor of history at Florida Atlantic University, is the author of Total Cold War: Eisenhower's Secret Propaganda Battle at Home and Abroad , winner of the Herbert Hoover Book Award. Andrew K. Frank , associate professor of history at Florida State University, is the author of Creeks and Southerners: Biculturalism on the Early American Frontier . A volume in the Alan B. Larkin Series on the American Presidency, edited by Kenneth Osgood