Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

From Party To Publicity: The Transitional Role Of Three Publicity Experts On The Road To Modern Campaigning, Meagan H. Collman

LSU Master's Theses

During an election cycle, social media newsfeeds and TV screens are overrun with political advertisements and celebrity politics. Publicity has become a critical component of presidential elections. While many argue that a reliance on publicity developed with the popularization of the television, I argue that a dependency on publicity occurred in the early-to- mid 1900’s with three publicity experts who paved the way for future elections. Robert Woolley in Woodrow Wilson’s 1916 campaign exercised unprecedented management over his publicity bureau and used new techniques catering to new mediums of the time; Albert Lasker in Warren Harding’s 1920 campaign merged the …