Kenneth A. Osgood, “Form before Substance”

Kenneth A. Osgood, “Form before Substance: Eisenhower’s Commitment to Psychological Warfare and Negotiations with the Enemy,” Diplomatic History, Vol.24, No.3 (Summer 2000).

The basic stance of this essay is on post-Eisenhower revisionism. While Ike-revisionist emphasizes the Ike’s pacifist stance and insists that Eisenhower pursued the détente and arms control with Soviet Union in whole period of the Administration, Osgood explains that Ike thought it important to pursue the psychological warfare against Soviet Union. This essay argues that Eisenhower’s commitment to psychological warfare exerted an influence on the overall direction of his administration’s foreign policy.
Eisenhower was one of the first Americans to appreciate the significance of psychological warfare in both war and peacetime. During the World War II, the United States engaged in an extensive program of psychological-war through the Office of War Information and the Psychological War Division. Eisenhower supervised this campaign. The experience during the War prepared for his later endorsement of psychological warfare as president.
Although the organization of psy-warfare was liquidated after the surrender of Japan in 1945, President Truman soon rebuilt the US psychological arsenal. The National Security Act of 1947 provided for peacetime political warfare against Soviet bloc under the CIA and Department of States. In April 1951, Truman created the Psychological Strategy Board (PSB) to coordinate the US psy-war effort.
During the Truman Administration, Eisenhower as the commander of NATO reinforced his conviction that the United States needed to find a way to counter Communist propaganda. By the time Eisenhower committed himself as a candidate in the 1952 election, he had fully developed views on the importance of political warfare to the American Cold War effort and psychological warfare figured prominently in his campaign. He included among the means of psy-warfare, mutual economic assistance, trade, friendly contacts, and even sporting events.
After he became the president, his very first acts as president was to appoint a high-level committee of psy-war, chaired by William H. Jackson. Jackson oversaw the creation of independent propaganda agency, the United States Information Agency (USIA), and a high-level coordinating body devoted to psy-warfare and strategy, the Operation Coordinating Board (OCB).