Republic of Spin: An Inside History of the American Presidency Reprint Edition

What is the correct role of the media in national politics? Does government propagandize the electorate or enlighten them? Will it allow us to scale up traditional New England town democracy to a national level, or create a society of conformists, eventually marching in lock step to disaster? Historically, how malleable has the public been? What was the media's role in advancing Vietnam and the civil rights movement? When does taking advantage of and playing the media cross the line into misuse?And what of the media in society? Could it empower the lowest common denominator and institute the “tyranny of the majority” through demagoguery? Is it even possible to be objective?, since no single person can know all (even reasonable) points of view on a major issue. Starting at a certain level of abstraction, is truth simply a matter of spin and bias? And when the media has what one regards as biased reporting – is it due to an honest bias?, or does it come from the dictates of the outlet owner on which positions their writers should be hired for or favor?Given the role of the internet in articulately advancing so many opinions at odds with each other – in the future will it be possible to even produce consensus about anything meaningful?I have previous purchased and tried to make my way through several books featuring Edward Bernays (Propaganda, Crystallizing Public Opinion, The Father of Spin). Past the first few chapters of nicely summarized insight I found them to become so full of routine minutia and pontification that they lost my interest.“The Republic of Spin” traces the role of the media (newspapers, radio, TV), starting with Teddy Roosevelt’s administration. The vast majority of the book held me spellbound, with well thought out prose - ways of explaining and summing up. Only towards the end with the George W Bush and Obama administrations did it (sort of) start skimming and falling short of other books (like Frank Rich’s “The Great Story Ever Sold”) . A frank analysis of what is termed “political correctness” - in light of statistics on social pathology (our present day elephant in the room, our third rail of politics) is also missing. None-the-less, this book presents a culled set of history that’s hard to find summarized anywhere else. Five stars.

There is plenty to learn from this book--though it generally starts only from the 20th Century. There was plenty of sping going on between politicians and the media before that. However, the 20th Century is what brought us radio--where demagogues like Father Coughlin and Huey Long gained huge followings on the airwaves with a largely leftwing/populist message, onto TV where Ike and really JFK learned to manage things. The book goes up to the Obama years--and seems to let him off the hook a bit regarding spin. But that's OK. The book is generally a fun read for anyone following politics and seeking to understand how we reached the cable news pundit wars of today.

Think that political spin by presidents just started recently? This book says "No"! The volume goes back to the beginning of the American Republic under our Constitution. George Washington, for example, would ask James Madison do provide a draft of an important message. Madison would do so--and then present a response from the House of Representatives to the draft that he gave Washington! Over time, we see early presidents "spinning" their perspective.Over time, the spin aspect of a presidency became more sophisticated and the use of media more fine grained. By the early 20th century, presidents such as Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson and others became adept at getting their word out. And--over time--practitioners became more skilled. FDR, Eisenhower, Nixon, Reagan, Clinton, Bush (2), and Obama. Polls became more scientific and were used to assess public opinion and suggest ways of speaking to the public's concerns.This is a well written work, accessible to readers, and addressing an issue of some importance.

A very dull read. Good lord, why do academics always have to use the most verbose, obsequious, irritating language possible? It's like this book was designed to bore undergraduates to death. I'm not one of those anymore, but this book sure makes a great bedtime read. Nothing puts me to sleep quite as fast as a chapter or two of this book.The content is certainly enriching and worthwhile. The examination of the US media landscape, the interplays of public opinion, polling, the evolution of news media, and more, offers a lot of excellent historical lessons that many in today's age would due well to recognize. People have been debating the abilities of a democratic society to handle the propagandistic influences of the mass media on the general public for almost a hundred years. Modern iterations such as facebook and twitter aren't actually all that new, but just more recent versions of this same issue. Perhaps we need modern solutions, or perhaps our predecessors were correct. This review is comprehensive and thorough, and takes the reader through all the relevant points along the journey to the modern media landscape.

This book is an excellent historical basis for what is seen in today's political climate. Its content is beyond accurate in stating how the present White House occupant was able to walk into it. The present occupant's playbook can be seen, nearly verbatim and nearly in act, in the chapter describing Richard Nixon's history, and behavior, from congressman, to vice president, to president, to resigning to avoid imprisonment. The present White House occupant is the mirror of Richard Nixon. That is not good for the nation, but the nation seems not to know it.

A deep dive into "spin". Good price. Makes you think.

Different perspective.