The fall of Dr. Seuss brought news -- for those who searched the history of Dr. Seuss -- that he was once a government propagandist. Yes, he even won Academy Awards for that, if you can imagine.
A week later (after the news breaks about Dr. Seuss purportedly being racist and such), Roger Mudd dies, and we are reminded of his documentary -- broadcast 50 years ago this past month -- The Selling of the Pentagon, revealing how the military's information arm had a bigger budget than they three major news networks combined -- and spent it on propaganda. Full credit being given, a U.S. Senator back then, William J. Fulbright, unveiled that before Mudd and CBS.
Turn to Wikipedia, find, "List of Allied propaganda films of World War II," notice the hundreds of movie that were produced, some by the military, itself, and some with grants to Hollywood. The propaganda films Dr. Seuss worked on were but a drop in the bucket compared to all those released. So long is the list that you wonder if every film company in Hollywood wasn't making one, which would make sense. If the military provided financing, and you could support the war effort in the process, why not take the easy money? Frank Capra, the famous director, voluntarily joined the military like Seuss and, like Seuss, helped produce the military propaganda.
CBS's The Selling of the Pentagon speaks of Thunderbird airplanes flying overhead communities as elaborate commercials for air power. It tells of war games being presented before the public to help instill devotion to the military. It speaks of how Vietnam would never have happened but for the information blitz that made it possible. It casually drops the name of George Romney, who initially supported the Vietnam War before coming to believe he was "brainwashed" by the military complex. It tells of James Cagney and John Wayne and lending their help to become pitchmen and narrators of the military films. It speaks of the military rolling out support in filming Wayne's movie, "The Green Berets."
Where did it start? Was Capra somewhat at the forefront of the military propaganda machine, at least the Hollywood portion?
More important, what is happening today?
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