The struggle for world opinion constituted a major battlefield of the Cold War. Both the United States and the Soviet Union hoped to isolate their chief opponent internationally, influence uncommitted audiences abroad, and simultaneously reassure their respective alliance systems. From 1953 on, the U.S. Information Agency (USIA) played a key role in advancing U.S. foreign policy goals through communication with global audiences. By the end of the Eisenhower years, however, USIA's effectiveness was strained by low morale after Joseph McCarthy's anti-Communist campaign, limited budgets, and bureaucratic infighting. To revitalize USIA, the Kennedy Administration appointed one of America's most famous journalists, Edward R. Murrow, to the helm of the agency. Murrow headed USIA until early 1964, when he retired for health reasons.
Gregory Tomlin's eloquent and thorough analysis explores Murrow's directorship at USIA, years that are all too often treated as a mere afterthought to his brilliant and extraordinary career as...