When Congress Tried to Cut Pentagon Public Relations: A Lesson from History

Public Relations Review

Volumn 26, Issue 2, 2000, Pages 131-154

  Lee, Mordecai ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN MILWAUKEE   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0008707164     PISSN: 03638111     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/S0363-8111(00)00037-0     Document Type: Article

References (120)

1. William Fulbright, The Pentagon Propaganda Machine (New York, NY: Liveright, 1970).
2. Ibid., (New York, NY: Vintage, 1971).
3. Using some of the information contained in Fulbright's speeches, Derek Shearer beat Fulbright to print by a few months with the phrase "Pentagon Propaganda Machine." Derek Shearer, "Pentagon Propaganda Machine," in Leonard S. Rodberg and Derek Shearer (eds.), The Pentagon Watchers (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1970), pp. 99-142.
4. For example, The New York Times (December 2, 1969), The Washington Post (December 6, 1969), and Congressional Quarterly (December 12, 1969).
5. For example, The New York Times (December 2, 1969), The Washington Post (December 6, 1969), and Congressional Quarterly (December 12, 1969).
6. For example, The New York Times (December 2, 1969), The Washington Post (December 6, 1969), and Congressional Quarterly (December 12, 1969).
7. For the connection between Fulbright's material and the TV program, see Jimmie N. Rogers and Theodore Clevanger, Jr., "The Selling of the Pentagon: Was CBS the Fulbright Propaganda Machine?" Quarterly Journal of Speech 57 (1971), pp. 266-273.
8. David R. Segal, "National Security and Democracy in the United States," Armed Forces and Society 20 (1994), p. 389.
9. Richard J. Schaefer, "Editing Strategies in Television News Documentaries," Journal of Communication 47 (1997), pp. 69-88.
10. Richard Forgette, The Power of the Purse Strings (Westport. CN: Praeger 1994); Richard F. Fenno, The Power of the Purse: Appropriations Politics in Congress (Boston, MA: Little, Brown, 1966).
11. Richard Forgette, The Power of the Purse Strings (Westport. CN: Praeger 1994); Richard F. Fenno, The Power of the Purse: Appropriations Politics in Congress (Boston, MA: Little, Brown, 1966).
12. Bernard Rosen, Holding Government Bureaucracies Accountable, 3rd ed. (Westport, CN: Praeger, 1998), p. 63.
13. Fiscal years are always numbered according to the calendar year they end in. At that time, the federal fiscal year began on July 1 and ended on June 30. Today, the federal fiscal year begins on October 1 and ends on September 30.
14. Congress House Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriations for 1968. Hearings Before a Subcommittee 90th Congress, 1st Session, Vol. 5, pp. 537-538.
15. Congress House Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriation Bill, 1968. House Report 349, 90th Congress, 1st Session, 1967, p. 29.
16. The Senate panel, rather than reviewing budget requests de novo, acted as an appeals body for agencies unhappy with decisions of the House. Stephen Horn, Unused Power: The Work of the Senate Committee on Appropriations (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 1970).
17. Congress Senate Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriations for Fiscal Year 1968. Hearings before a subcommittee, 90th Congress, 1st Session, Vol. 2, p. 24.
18. Ibid., p. 279.
19. Ibid., p. 370.
20. Ibid., p. 472.
21. Congress Senate Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriation Bill, 1968. Senate Report 494, 90th Congress, 1st Session, 1967, pp. 26-27.
22. Michael W. Kirst, Government Without Passing Laws: Congress' Nonstatutory Techniques for Appropriations Control (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1969).
23. Stephen Horn, op. cit., pp. 191-192.
24. Congress House Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriations for 1969. Hearings Before a Subcommittee 90th Congress, 2nd Session, Vol. 1, p. 1032.
25. Congress Senate Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriations for 1969. Hearings Before a Subcommittee 90th Congress, 2nd Session, Vol. 3, p. 1335.
26. Congress House Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriations for 1969. Hearings Before a Subcommittee 90th Congress, 2nd Session, Vol. 1, p. 1032. Because Congress wanted to cut spending, it is unclear what the Navy bureaucratese meant by the word "controlled," because the reprogramming request was an attempt to reverse the cuts.
27. Ibid. and Vol. 4, p. 827.
28. Stephen Horn, op. cit., p. 194.
29. Congress House Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriations for 1969. Hearings Before a Subcommittee, 90th Congress, 2nd Session, Vol. 1, p. 1029.
30. Ibid., p. 1042.
31. Elias Huzar, The Purse and the Sword (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1950), p. 212.
32. Congress House Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriations for 1969. Hearings Before a Subcommittee, 90th Congress, 2nd Session, Vol. 4, p. 828.
33. Ibid., p. 829.
34. Ibid., p. 665.
35. Ibid., p. 1073.
36. Ibid., Vol. 5, p. 106.
37. Ibid., p. 259.
38. Ibid., p. 106.
39. Ibid., p. 260.
40. Congress House Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriation Bill, 1969. House Report 1735, 90th Congress, 2nd Session, 1968. p. 30.
41. Congress, Congressional Record 114 (September 11, 1968), pp. 26471-2.
42. Congress Senate Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriations for 1969. Hearings Before a Subcommittee, 90th Congress, 2nd Session, Vol. 3, pp. 1334-7; Vol. 4, pp. 1891, 1894.
43. Congress Senate Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriations for 1969. Hearings Before a Subcommittee, 90th Congress, 2nd Session, Vol. 3, pp. 1334-7; Vol. 4, pp. 1891, 1894.
44. Congress Senate Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriation Bill, 1969. Senate Report 1576, 90th Congress, 2nd Session, 1968.
45. House of Representatives, Committee on Appropriations, Surveys and Investigations Staff, op. cit., p. 1.
46. Ibid.
47. Ibid., pp. 1-2.
48. Congress House Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriation Bill, 1970. House Report 91-698, 91st Congress, 1st Session, 1969, p. 36. See also Congress House Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriations for 1970. Hearings Before a Subcommittee, 91st Congress, 1st Session, Vol. 6, p. 573; Congress, Congressional Record 115 (December 8, 1969), p. 37666.
49. Congress House Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriation Bill, 1970. House Report 91-698, 91st Congress, 1st Session, 1969, p. 36. See also Congress House Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriations for 1970. Hearings Before a Subcommittee, 91st Congress, 1st Session, Vol. 6, p. 573; Congress, Congressional Record 115 (December 8, 1969), p. 37666.
50. Congress House Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriation Bill, 1970. House Report 91-698, 91st Congress, 1st Session, 1969, p. 36. See also Congress House Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriations for 1970. Hearings Before a Subcommittee, 91st Congress, 1st Session, Vol. 6, p. 573; Congress, Congressional Record 115 (December 8, 1969), p. 37666.
51. House of Representatives, Committee on Appropriations, Surveys and Investigations Staff, op. cit., pp. 45-47.
52. Congress House Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriations for 1970. Hearings Before a Subcommittee, 91st Congress, 1st Session, Vol. 1, pp. 195-196. In a later submission, the Navy showed that between June 30, 1968, and December 31, 1968, public affairs staffing decreased by 15 positions, from 996 to 971.
53. Ibid., Vol. 2, pp. 209-210.
54. Congress House Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriation Bill, 1970. House Report 91-698, 91st Congress, 1st Session, 1969, p. 36.
55. Congress, Congressional Record 115 (December 1, 1969), p. 361, 29.
56. Ibid., pp. 36129-36142.
57. Ibid., (December 2, 1969), pp. 36317-36344.
58. Ibid., (December 4, 1969), pp. 37003-37028.
59. Ibid., (December 5, 1969), pp. 37248-37289.
60. Ibid., (December 2, 1969), p. 36344.
61. Ibid., (December 4, 1969), p. 37007
62. Ibid., (December 5, 1969), p. 37288; (December 2, 1969), p. 36344.
63. Ibid., (December 5, 1969), p. 37288; (December 2, 1969), p. 36344.
64. Ibid., (December 5, 1969), p. 37288.
65. Congress Senate Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriations for 1971. Hearings Before a Subcommittee, 91st Congress, 2nd Session, Vol. 1, p. 1971.
66. Congress, Congressional Record 115 (December 8, 1969), p. 376, 366.
67. Congress Senate Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriation Bill 1970. Senate Report, 91-607, 91st Congress, 1st Session, 1969.
68. Department of Defense, Fact Sheet, FY1970 Public Affairs Costs. June 25, 1970.
69. Congress House Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriations for 1971. Hearings Before a Subcommittee, 91st Congress, 2nd Session, Vol. 3, p. 65.
70. Congress House Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriations for 1970. Hearings Before a Subcommittee, 91st Congress, 1st Session, Vol. 6, p. 576.
71. Congress House Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriations for 1971. Hearings Before a Subcommittee, 91st Congress, 2nd Session, Vol. 3, p. 234; Congress Senate Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriations for 1971. Hearings Before a Subcommittee, 91st Congress, 2nd Session, Vol. 1, p. 920.
72. Congress House Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriations for 1971. Hearings Before a Subcommittee, 91st Congress, 2nd Session, Vol. 3, p. 234; Congress Senate Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriations for 1971. Hearings Before a Subcommittee, 91st Congress, 2nd Session, Vol. 1, p. 920.
73. Congress House Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriation Bill 1971. House Report 91-1570, 91st Congress, 2nd Session, 1970. p. 24.
74. The discrepancy between the reduction to $30 million and the annual limitation to $28 million is actually an accounting one. At the time of the release of the House committee report, one quarter of the fiscal year was over and the public relations expenditures were at a higher level. Therefore, a reduction from $37 million to $30 million would have the effect of a spending rate for the last three-quarters equivalent to an annual rate of $28 million.
75. Congress Senate, Department of Defense Appropriation Bill, 1971. Report No. 91-1392. 91st Congress. 2nd Session, p. 19.
76. Randall Bennett Woods, Fulbright: A Biography (New York. NY: Cambridge University Press, 1995), p. 547 and passim.
77. Congress, Congressional Record 116 (December 8, 1970), p. 404, 437.
78. Ibid., p. 40439.
79. Mordecai Lee, "President Nixon Sees a 'Cover Up': Public Relations in Federal Agencies," Public Relations Review 23 (1997), pp. 301-325.
80. Laird was a former congressman who had served on the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.
81. Congress House Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriations for 1972. Hearings Before a Subcommittee, 92nd Congress, 1st Session, Vol. 1, p. 117; U.S. Congress Senate Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriations for 1972. Hearings Before a Subcommittee, 92nd Congress, 1st Session, Vol. 1, p. 146.
82. Congress House Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriations for 1972. Hearings Before a Subcommittee, 92nd Congress, 1st Session, Vol. 1, p. 117; U.S. Congress Senate Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriations for 1972. Hearings Before a Subcommittee, 92nd Congress, 1st Session, Vol. 1, p. 146.
83. Army, U.S. Congress House Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriations for 1972. Hearings Before a Subcommittee, 92nd Congress, 1st Session, Vol. 4, pp. 458, 551, 556. Navy, Ibid., p. 60. Marine Corps, Ibid., pp. 399-400. Air Force, Ibid., p. 1008.
84. Army, U.S. Congress House Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriations for 1972. Hearings Before a Subcommittee, 92nd Congress, 1st Session, Vol. 4, pp. 458, 551, 556. Navy, Ibid., p. 60. Marine Corps, Ibid., pp. 399-400. Air Force, Ibid., p. 1008.
85. Army, U.S. Congress House Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriations for 1972. Hearings Before a Subcommittee, 92nd Congress, 1st Session, Vol. 4, pp. 458, 551, 556. Navy, Ibid., p. 60. Marine Corps, Ibid., pp. 399-400. Air Force, Ibid., p. 1008.
86. Army, U.S. Congress House Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriations for 1972. Hearings Before a Subcommittee, 92nd Congress, 1st Session, Vol. 4, pp. 458, 551, 556. Navy, Ibid., p. 60. Marine Corps, Ibid., pp. 399-400. Air Force, Ibid., p. 1008.
87. Congress House Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriation Bill, 1972. House Report 92-666, 92nd Congress. 1st Session, 1971. p. 40.
88. Ibid.
89. Ibid., p. 41.
90. Congress House Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriations for 1972. Hearings Before a Subcommittee, 92nd Congress, 1st Session, Vol. 4, pp. 551.
91. Daniel H. Schurz, (ed.), Directory of Public Information Contacts - 1972 (Washington, DC: Daniel J. Edelman, 1972).
92. General Accounting Office, Practices Followed by Hometown News Centers of the Departments of the Army, Navy and Air Force. Report B-146830, May 27, 1971, p. 4.
93. Letter from Daniel Z. Henkin, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, to J. Kenneth Fasick, GAO Director of Logistics and Communications, June 14, 1972.
94. Congress Senate Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriations for Fiscal Year 1968. Hearings before a subcommittee, 90th Congress, 1st Session, Vol. 2, p. 472.
95. House of Representatives, Committee on Appropriations, Surveys and Investigations Staff, op. cit., p. 44.
96. Congress House Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriations for 1969. Hearings Before a Subcommittee 90th Congress, 2nd Session, Vol. 1, p. 1032.
97. House of Representatives, Committee on Appropriations, Surveys and Investigations Staff, op. cit., p. 44.
98. Congress Senate Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriations for 1970. Hearings Before a Subcommittee, 91st Congress, 1st Session, Vol. 3, p. 734.
99. Congress House Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriations for 1973. Hearings Before a Subcommittee 92nd Congress, 2nd Session, Vol. 5. p. 522.
100. General Accounting Office, Expenditures for Public Affairs Activities - Department of Defense. Report B-161939, July, 30, 1973, p. 31.
101. Ibid., p. 1.
102. Ibid., p. 9.
103. Ibid., pp. 9-10.
104. Ibid., p. 8.
105. Ibid.
106. Ibid., pp. 29-30.
107. United Press International, "$48 Million in Pentagon PR Unlisted," The Washington Post (August 6, 1973), p. A-1; "Overselling the Pentagon," Time Magazine (August 20, 1973), p. 8.
108. United Press International, "$48 Million in Pentagon PR Unlisted," The Washington Post (August 6, 1973), p. A-1; "Overselling the Pentagon," Time Magazine (August 20, 1973), p. 8.
109. Congress Senate Committee on Appropriations, Department of Defense Appropriation Bill, 1974. Senate Report 93-617, 93rd Congress, 1st Session, 1973. p. 25.
110. Navy Office of Information, Field Activities [Online]. Available: http:// www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/chinfo/fldacts.html (2000 January 16).
111. Air Force, Air Force News Agency, Command Support [Online]. Available: http:// www.afnews.af.mil/about/cs 01.htm (2000 January 16).
112. Marine Corps, Public Affairs Offices, United States [Online]. Available: http:// www.usmc.mil/pashops/pashops.nsf/ united+states?OpenView&Count=300&Expand=all (2000, January 16).
113. Air Force, Air Force News Agency, Fact Sheet [Online]. Available: http:// www.af.mil/news/factsheets/Air Force News Agency.html (2000, January 16).
114. Navy, Office of Information [Online]. Available: http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/ navpalib/chinfo/chinfo.html (2000, January 16).
115. Navy [Online]. Available: http://www.spear.navy.mil/profile magazine/ (2000, January 16).
116. Michael M. Harmon, Responsibility as Paradox: A Critique of Rational Discourse in Government (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1995), pp. 47-51. He reviews the 1940's debate between Friedrich and Finer on this issue.
117. Scott Gates and Jeffrey Hill, "Democratic Accountability and Governmental Innovation in the Use of Nonprfoit Organizations," Policy Studies Review 14 (1995), p. 146.
118. E. E. Schattschneider, The Semi-Sovereign People: A Realist's View of Democracy in America (New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1960), p. 133.
119. Herbert A. Simon, Donald W. Smithburg, and Victor A. Thompson, Public Administration (New Brunswick. NJ: Transaction, 1991), Chap. 18-19.
120. Francis E. Rourke, Bureaucracy, Politics and Public Policy 3rd ed. (Boston, MA: Little, Brown, 1984), p. 50.