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Kennedy's Civil Defense Gap, 1960–1964

Dee Garrison

in Bracing for Armageddon: Why Civil Defense Never Worked

This chapter describes John F. Kennedy's time as president, during a period considered the height of government and media hyperbole in support of civil defense measures. Kennedy advised citizens to ... More

This chapter describes John F. Kennedy's time as president, during a period considered the height of government and media hyperbole in support of civil defense measures. Kennedy advised citizens to build and stock fallout shelters in their homes, creating his civil defense hype to counter the political appeal of his rival, New York governor Nelson Rockefeller, a devoted supporter of civil defense. Rockefeller failed in his effort to require fallout shelters for all citizens of New York, which was partially defeated by hundreds of marching female anti-civil defense protesters in Albany. Meanwhile, housewives, students, Catholic workers, and members of the War Resisters League turned the 1960 and 1961 New York City Operation Alert exercises into the largest mass peace actions since the 1930s. They revitalized the American peace movement, adopting the direct action style of American Gandhism and providing tactical inspiration for the larger revolts that shaped the 1960s.Less

Supermercado USA

Shane Hamilton

in Supermarket USA: Food and Power in the Cold War Farms Race

This chapter focuses on the first formal effort to use American-style supermarkets as anticommunist weapons. In 1947, Nelson A. Rockefeller launched a for-profit development corporation with the ... More

This chapter focuses on the first formal effort to use American-style supermarkets as anticommunist weapons. In 1947, Nelson A. Rockefeller launched a for-profit development corporation with the avowed purpose of raising living standards and dampening communist political leanings in Latin America. Rockefeller’s most ambitious—and most profitable—effort was a series of supermarkets opened in Venezuela beginning in 1947. The story of Rockefeller’s Venezuelan supermarkets is remarkable for several reasons. They were intentionally paired with a simultaneous (though unsuccessful) effort to industrialize Venezuelan agriculture. They were the first profitable international venture in American-style supermarketing with an avowed anticommunist purpose. They were also, as the chapter details, met on occasion with violent rebuke from Latin American citizens who refused to accept the notion that Yankee capitalism was morally superior to alternative economic systemsLess

The Public versus the Pushers: Enacting New York’s Rockefeller Drug Laws

Julilly Kohler-Hausmann

in Getting Tough: Welfare and Imprisonment in 1970s America

This chapter examines how Nelson Rockefeller's 1973 “tough” proposal attempted to resolve the governing problems that arose from the therapeutic regime. It analyzes the ideological and political work ... More

This chapter examines how Nelson Rockefeller's 1973 “tough” proposal attempted to resolve the governing problems that arose from the therapeutic regime. It analyzes the ideological and political work accomplished by the proposal and the response by policymakers, opponents, drug users, and the diverse members of the general public. The drug laws were the result of the interaction between Rockefeller's personal political ambitions, diverse popular frustration with the period's social movements and political insurgency, and the persistence of heroin use and street crime in New York during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Rockefeller's dramatic and harsh proposal was built upon the premise that therapeutic programs failed to curtail drug use and street crime.Less

The Rockefellers

Evan R. Ward

in Packaged Vacations: Tourism Development in the Spanish Caribbean

During the early 1940s and in the aftermath of World War II, the third generation of Rockefellers, particularly Nelson and Laurance, played a critical role in establishing paradigms for decentralized ... More

During the early 1940s and in the aftermath of World War II, the third generation of Rockefellers, particularly Nelson and Laurance, played a critical role in establishing paradigms for decentralized tourism. By 1943, Nelson Rockefeller was planning for the post-war economy and promoting partnerships between private interests in the United States and Latin America. Rockefeller noted that tourists would not only stimulate the growth of hotels, airport infrastructure, and commerce in Latin America, but would also serve as cultural ambassadors between North and South America. The Rockefeller brothers contributed to the stimulation of tourism and business travel through their funding of the Hotel Avila in Venezuela, beginning in 1940. Following World War II, Laurance Rockefeller used his influence to promote Eastern Airlines routes throughout the Caribbean, especially in Puerto Rico and Mexico. Accordingly, he organized a company, RockResorts, to carry out his new concept in decentralized, nature-centered resorts. The Rockefeller family sold off the RockResorts name and properties in 1986. Since that time, the properties and corporate name have been passed on to other companies.Less

Abbott’s Fall

Robert Sitton

in Lady in the Dark: Iris Barry and the Art of Film

This chapter describes the deterioration of Dick Abbott's health and his position at the Museum of Modern Art. As 1947 drew to a close Abbott missed work during the last half of the year and could ... More

This chapter describes the deterioration of Dick Abbott's health and his position at the Museum of Modern Art. As 1947 drew to a close Abbott missed work during the last half of the year and could not keep up the pretense that he was in charge, and he was “eased out.” On December 22, 1947, he wrote to Nelson Rockefeller resigning as Secretary of the Museum, effective on January first 1948. Abbott was later diagnosed with tuberculosis of the larynx and was confined to a facility on Saranac Lake where he was to keep “absolutely silent and take streptomycin daily.” By the spring of 1949 he was out of the Saranac facility but his ill health persisted. He also refused to follow his physician's advice to quit drinking. On February 7, 1952 Abbott died alone in a New York City hotel room, probably under the influence of alcohol.Less

The People’s Billionaire

Aram Goudsouzian

in The Men and the Moment: The Election of 1968 and the Rise of Partisan Politics in America

Chapter Four begins with Nelson Rockefeller’s March 1968 announcement that he would not run for president. The ultra-rich, larger-than-life governor of New York had supported George Romney as the ... More

Chapter Four begins with Nelson Rockefeller’s March 1968 announcement that he would not run for president. The ultra-rich, larger-than-life governor of New York had supported George Romney as the representative of the moderate Republicans, but the Michigan governor issued a disastrous remark that he had been “brainwashed” about the Vietnam War. In April, Rockefeller injected himself back into the fold. This chapter paints the progressive Republican’s energetic and popular campaign, even as most rank-and-file Republicans sought more conservative alternatives.Less

Scientific Exchanges between the United States and Brazil in the Twentieth Century: Cultural Diplomacy and Transnational Movements

Olival Freire Jr. and Indianara Silva

in How Knowledge Moves: Writing the Transnational History of Science and Technology

This chapter deals with the transnational movement of scientists, mostly physicists, between Brazil and the United States that began in World War II and continued through the Cold War and the ... More

This chapter deals with the transnational movement of scientists, mostly physicists, between Brazil and the United States that began in World War II and continued through the Cold War and the Brazilian dictatorship. It tracks the intersection between scientific mobility and foreign policy, charting the tensions between the idealism of scientific internationalism and government restrictions on transnational movement in the name of national security. We begin when the OCIAA led by Nelson Rockefeller along with major foundations mobilized scientists and engineers (as well as film stars and movies) as cultural ambassadors for American democracy. Prominent in this story were cosmic-rays physicists Arthur Compton and Gleb Wataghin. Later, capitalizing on these networks, the physicist David Bohm could settle in Brazil, which provided a safe haven for his escape from McCarthyism. The Brazilian military dictatorship that took power in 1964 changed that. Notwithstanding an official American discourse favorable to democracy, successive US presidents covertly supported the new political system. However, American physicists welcomed Brazilian colleagues into the US and even lobbied successfully for their release from prison. This paper illustrates the importance of visas and passports as instruments used by the national security state to control the movement of scientists.Less

Mr. Rockefeller’s Office

Robert Sitton

in Lady in the Dark: Iris Barry and the Art of Film

This chapter details Nelson Rockefeller's appointment as the government's Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs at the outset of World War II. In its broadest aspects the Office of the Coordinator of ... More

This chapter details Nelson Rockefeller's appointment as the government's Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs at the outset of World War II. In its broadest aspects the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs envisioned multifaceted involvement in film production, distribution, and control during the war. The involvement of the Museum and the Rockefeller office was authorized by the founder of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), Colonel William Donovan, whose office was kept apprised of the library's work. The OSS later evolved into the Central Intelligence Agency. The OSS through the Rockefeller office used the Museum as a production facility to address the problem of declining enlistment; the Why We Fight series is widely regarded as among the most effective propaganda efforts ever made.Less

“Open Skies”

in Apocalypse Management: Eisenhower and the Discourse of National Insecurity

This chapter describes the “Open Skies” proposal. President Dwight Eisenhower and his advisors never considered “Open Skies” as a sign of an acceptable status quo or of accommodation with the enemy ... More

This chapter describes the “Open Skies” proposal. President Dwight Eisenhower and his advisors never considered “Open Skies” as a sign of an acceptable status quo or of accommodation with the enemy through disarmament—except when disarmament and eased tensions could be employed as weapons of cold war. Launching an efficient counterattack was believed to be the best way to maintain U.S. control. The goals of Nelson Rockefeller and the Quantico panel were not adopted by the president, who utilized the “Open Skies” proposal as a symbol of U.S. moral superiority, a way “to insist that the Soviets become more like the United States.” This proposal openly confessed a growing U.S. sense of vulnerability to nuclear weapons, and also produced an image of the global discursive stability that the president critically desired.Less

Ike Day

David Haven Blake

in Liking Ike: Eisenhower, Advertising, and the Rise of Celebrity Politics

On October 13, 1956, three weeks before Election Day, CBS aired a half-hour television program to celebrate President Eisenhower’s sixty-sixth birthday. Hosted by Jimmy Stewart, and featuring ... More

On October 13, 1956, three weeks before Election Day, CBS aired a half-hour television program to celebrate President Eisenhower’s sixty-sixth birthday. Hosted by Jimmy Stewart, and featuring appearances by Helen Hayes, Irene Dunne, and Nat King Cole, the program was widely praised as a campaign event that had no political content. Indeed, with Stewart as its host, the production drew upon similar themes as the classic film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Long forgotten, the Ike Day broadcast reveals how Eisenhower’s advisers strategically used celebrities to wage politics by other means. “The spectacle,” Guy Debord wrote, “is capital accumulated to the point of image.” Using the archives of the Republican National Committee and the McCann-Erickson advertising agency, the chapter explores the production and financing of this nationwide event, tracing it to some of the most prominent families and businessmen in the United States, including Spencer Olin, Francis DuPont, and future vice president Nelson Rockefeller.Less

L’Affair Buñuel

Robert Sitton

in Lady in the Dark: Iris Barry and the Art of Film

Nelson Rockefeller's Office of Inter-American Affairs (OIAA) sought to disseminate the Good Neighbor policy on Latin America through an exchange of films. Iris Barry was tasked with finding experts ... More

Nelson Rockefeller's Office of Inter-American Affairs (OIAA) sought to disseminate the Good Neighbor policy on Latin America through an exchange of films. Iris Barry was tasked with finding experts capable of translating informational film soundtracks, which led her to be alert for filmmakers fluent in Spanish and Portuguese. This chapter focuses on the participants in this film project, including controversial filmmaker Luis Buñuel and other Spanish intellectuals in flight from the Franco regime. It describes how Buñuel, along with the Rockefeller project he worked for, suffered overwhelming animosity from the far right. Buñuel was later seen as a liability due to his alleged ties to Communism and attack of Catholicism.Less

Voice

Alejandra Bronfman

in Isles of Noise: Sonic Media in the Caribbean

Taking up the problem of whether and how radio broadcasts spoke to Caribbean audiences, this chapter explores the introduction of the sounds of blackness throughout the region. The sounds of what ... More

Taking up the problem of whether and how radio broadcasts spoke to Caribbean audiences, this chapter explores the introduction of the sounds of blackness throughout the region. The sounds of what Kamau Brathwaite called “nation language” entered the soundscapes of Haiti and Kingston with implications for the politics of belonging in the late 1950s. The voices and sounds of people speaking--in addition to singing—in creole generated a new interest in broadcasting. Radio personalities like Louise Bennett revitalized a marginalized medium and convinced ordinary people that the radio could speak to them. In Haiti, one of the first regular programs to use creole was “Le Quart d’Heure de Frère Hiss,” sponsored by Nelson Rockefeller’s Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs and staffed by Haitian actors and writers. The traditions of creole and the technological innovations that enabled the implementation of broadcasting in the Caribbean should not be imagined as two forms of media in conflict with one another. Rather they were both necessary to the production of broadcasting as a modern medium.Less