American Propaganda

American case studies

Rewritten histories of US government, wartime, and domestic campaigns. The snapshot lists 48 US-related case studies; the ones not yet rewritten are in TODO.md.

Illustration: a dense, generic Cold War intelligence analyst's evidence wall of press photography, redacted reports and aerial reconnaissance imagery.United StatesThe US abortion debate: persuasion campaigns on both sides since the 1960s1969Illustration: a Cold War intelligence collage of a non-aligned-movement conference and a map spanning Latin America, Africa and Asia.United StatesThe Active Measures Working Group (1981 to 1992)1981Illustration: a Cold War intelligence collage of a non-aligned-movement conference and a map spanning Latin America, Africa and Asia.United StatesGay plague, tombstones and Silence = Death: messaging in the AIDS crisis, 1981-19901987Illustration: a pre-1914 imperial intelligence-dossier collage of colonial telegraph logs, sepia field photography and empire maps.United StatesJoin or Die to the Boston Massacre: patriot and loyalist print, 1754-17831754–1783Illustration: a dossier collage of a vintage television wall broadcasting archival news footage, surrounded by press clippings and film reels.United StatesBlack Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter: two slogans, their campaigns, and a foreign operation that posed as bothJuly 2013Illustration: a split dossier collage contrasting a 1950s intelligence briefing room with an analog newsroom monitoring wall.United StatesThe civil rights movement and the Citizens' Councils: boycotts and marches, 'outside agitator' labels, state money and economic pressure1954Illustration: a split dossier collage contrasting a 1950s intelligence briefing room with an analog newsroom monitoring wall.United StatesCOINTELPRO: the FBI's covert media and information operations against U.S. groups, 1956-19711956Illustration: a Cold War intelligence collage of a non-aligned-movement conference and a map spanning Latin America, Africa and Asia.United StatesThe Congress for Cultural Freedom: a CIA-funded intellectuals' network, 1950-1967June 1950Illustration: a First World War field-intelligence collage of trench maps, wireless transmission logs and aerial reconnaissance photographs.United StatesThe Committee on Public Information: how the U.S. government sold the First World War at home (1917-1919)1917–1919Illustration: a dense, generic Cold War intelligence analyst's evidence wall of press photography, redacted reports and aerial reconnaissance imagery.United StatesThe Crusade for Freedom: Truth Dollars for a CIA-funded radio, 1950-1971September 4, 1950Illustration: a contemporary investigator's evidence wall of printed social-media posts, network diagrams and a pinned world map, in the same dossier style as the rest of the archive.United StatesThe DHS Disinformation Governance Board (2022)April 27, 2022Illustration: a redacted Cold War intelligence-dossier collage centred on a world map of influence operations, with the U.S. Capitol among the evidence.United StatesThe Justice Department's FARA release and public demonstrationsSeptember 16, 2026Illustration: an interwar radio-and-newsreel intelligence collage with a 1930s map of Europe and propaganda poster proofs.United StatesBetter babies, fitter families: eugenics campaigns in the US, Sweden and Germany1920Illustration: a contemporary investigator's evidence wall of printed social-media posts, network diagrams and a pinned world map, in the same dossier style as the rest of the archive.United StatesThe State Department's Global Engagement Center (2016 to 2025)March 14, 2016Illustration: a split dossier collage contrasting a 1950s intelligence briefing room with an analog newsroom monitoring wall.United StatesThe 1990-91 Gulf crisis: Iraq's 'guests' and 'linkage', and Washington's Hitler analogyAugust 23, 1990Illustration: a Cold War intelligence-briefing collage with the Kremlin, Eastern Bloc architecture and a reconnaissance map of Europe.United StatesGun rights and gun control: persuasion on both sides of the U.S. gun debate1977Illustration: a contemporary investigator's evidence wall of printed social-media posts, network diagrams and a pinned world map, in the same dossier style as the rest of the archive.United StatesHamilton 68: the Russian-influence dashboard and its secret account listAugust 2, 2017Illustration: an interwar radio-and-newsreel intelligence collage with a 1930s map of Europe and propaganda poster proofs.United StatesThe Institute for Propaganda Analysis (1937-1942)1937Illustration: a contemporary investigator's evidence wall of printed social-media posts, network diagrams and a pinned world map, in the same dossier style as the rest of the archive.United StatesHow the US and UK governments presented the case for war in Iraq, 2002-03September 24, 2002Illustration: a pre-1914 imperial intelligence-dossier collage of colonial telegraph logs, sepia field photography and empire maps.United StatesLabor organizing and anti-union campaigns in the United States, 1910-19411910Illustration: a redacted Cold War intelligence-dossier collage centred on a world map of influence operations, with the U.S. Capitol among the evidence.United StatesMAGA and the Resistance: grassroots organising for and against Trump, 2016-20212016Illustration: a Cold War intelligence-dossier collage dominated by a distressed world map with connecting routes, coordinates and highlighted regions.United StatesThe Nayirah testimony: a Kuwaiti government PR campaign at a House human rights caucusOctober 10, 1990Illustration: a Second World War naval-intelligence collage of a Pacific theatre map, aerial reconnaissance photographs and radar plots.United StatesThe Office of War Information's Domestic Branch, 1942-43June 13, 1942Illustration: a dossier collage of a vintage television wall broadcasting archival news footage, surrounded by press clippings and film reels.United StatesThe Pentagon's retired military analyst outreach programme (2002-2008)April 20, 2008Illustration: a pre-1914 imperial intelligence-dossier collage of colonial telegraph logs, sepia field photography and empire maps.United States'Benevolent assimilation': the Philippine-American War and the propaganda on every sideDecember 21, 1898Illustration: a contemporary investigator's evidence wall of printed social-media posts, network diagrams and a pinned world map, in the same dossier style as the rest of the archive.United StatesGovernment pressure on platforms and broadcasters ("jawboning"), 2020-2026October 14, 2020Illustration: an interwar radio-and-newsreel intelligence collage with a 1930s map of Europe and propaganda poster proofs.United StatesReefer Madness and the 1930s marihuana campaign1936Illustration: a Cold War intelligence-dossier collage dominated by a distressed world map with connecting routes, coordinates and highlighted regions.United StatesThe satanic panic: ritual-abuse claims in the US and UK, 1980-19941980Illustration: a First World War field-intelligence collage of trench maps, wireless transmission logs and aerial reconnaissance photographs.United StatesThe second Ku Klux Klan: selling membership as '100% Americanism'November 1915Illustration: a pre-1914 imperial intelligence-dossier collage of colonial telegraph logs, sepia field photography and empire maps.United StatesAbolitionist and pro-slavery print, 1787-18601787–1860Illustration: a pre-1914 imperial intelligence-dossier collage of colonial telegraph logs, sepia field photography and empire maps.United StatesVotes for Women and the anti-suffrage campaigns, 1908 to 19201913Illustration: a contemporary investigator's evidence wall of printed social-media posts, network diagrams and a pinned world map, in the same dossier style as the rest of the archive.United StatesThe Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street: two protest waves after the 2008 crashFebruary 19, 2009Illustration: a pre-1914 imperial intelligence-dossier collage of colonial telegraph logs, sepia field photography and empire maps.United StatesTemperance, Prohibition and the wets: the dry campaigns and their opponents, 1874 to 19331893Illustration: a Cold War intelligence collage of a non-aligned-movement conference and a map spanning Latin America, Africa and Asia.United StatesThe tobacco industry's smoking-and-health doubt campaign, 1953 to 1998December 14, 1953Tokyo Rose and Iva Ikuko Toguri D'AquinoUnited StatesTokyo Rose and Iva Ikuko Toguri D'Aquino1949Illustration: an interwar radio-and-newsreel intelligence collage with a 1930s map of Europe and propaganda poster proofs.United StatesTorches of Freedom: the 1929 Easter Parade cigarette marchMarch 31, 1929Illustration: a contemporary investigator's evidence wall of printed social-media posts, network diagrams and a pinned world map, in the same dossier style as the rest of the archive.United States2004: outside-group ads on Kerry's Navy record and Bush's Guard recordAugust 5, 2004Illustration: a contemporary investigator's evidence wall of printed social-media posts, network diagrams and a pinned world map, in the same dossier style as the rest of the archive.United StatesThe steelworker ad and the welfare ads: two fact-checked attacks from the 2012 U.S. presidential raceAugust 7, 2012Illustration: a pre-1914 imperial intelligence-dossier collage of colonial telegraph logs, sepia field photography and empire maps.United StatesUnion and Confederate print, 1861-18651861–1865Illustration: a dense, generic Cold War intelligence analyst's evidence wall of press photography, redacted reports and aerial reconnaissance imagery.United StatesCrime and victim attack ads in two U.S. presidential races: Horton and the furloughs (1988), James Byrd Jr. and hate-crimes law (2000)1988Illustration: a pre-1914 imperial intelligence-dossier collage of colonial telegraph logs, sepia field photography and empire maps.United StatesThe 1800 election: "Jefferson and no God" and "squints at monarchy"1800Illustration: a split dossier collage contrasting a 1950s intelligence briefing room with an analog newsroom monitoring wall.United StatesMood over argument: "Morning in America" (Reagan-Bush 1984) and "Hope" / "Yes We Can" (Obama 2008)September 17, 1984Illustration: a Second World War naval-intelligence collage of a Pacific theatre map, aerial reconnaissance photographs and radar plots.United StatesThe U.S. Office of War Information and the Writers' War Board: a 'strategy of truth' meets the advertising menJune 13, 1942Illustration: a Cold War intelligence-briefing collage with the Kremlin, Eastern Bloc architecture and a reconnaissance map of Europe.United StatesJust Say No and the fried egg: anti-drug campaigns, 1971-20161986Illustration: a Second World War naval-intelligence collage of a Pacific theatre map, aerial reconnaissance photographs and radar plots.United StatesWhy We Fight: the U.S. Army's orientation films, 1942-19451942Illustration: a First World War field-intelligence collage of trench maps, wireless transmission logs and aerial reconnaissance photographs.United StatesWartime censorship in the First World War: Britain, Germany, France and the United StatesJuly 31, 1914Illustration: a Second World War naval-intelligence collage of a Pacific theatre map, aerial reconnaissance photographs and radar plots.United StatesWorld War II rumor clinics and rumor control (1940 to 1947)March 1, 1942Illustration: a pre-1914 imperial intelligence-dossier collage of colonial telegraph logs, sepia field photography and empire maps.United StatesRemember the Maine: the yellow press and Spain, 1895-18981895–1898