Review
"Winston Churchill said that for war to be waged, it must be done behind a "bodyguard of lies." Selling War to America provides a detailed look at the way this premise has been adhered to by American leaders for more than a century. Today, with our nation mired in a war that was spawned by a remarkably cynical campaign of toxic salesmanship, this book is of particular importance."

Stuart Ewen, Distinguished Professor Ph.D. Programs in History and Sociology The CUNY Graduate Center Department of Film & Media Studies Hunter College, CUNY

Book Description
It is not war that Americans hate, but, rather, unsuccessful wars.  This success is often determined by how wars are sold to the public. For more than one hundred years, the leaders of U.S. governments have tried to "sell" wars to the American people.  Lies were told and truths withheld because government and military leaders did not trust the American people to make appropriate decisions concerning national security.

Secunda and Moran’s historical analysis of how wars are sold by U.S. administrations and bought by the American people reveals that a majority of Americans are more than willing to buy a war, if it is properly packaged and skillfully marketed, and whenever the public can be persuaded that the nation’s honor or security is being challenged.

The authors note that Americans were eager to go to war with Spain in 1898 to fulfill Manifest Destiny—the vision of an American Empire in North and South America and across the Pacific Ocean. The authors also contend that the U.S. invasions of Grenada in 1983 and Panama in 1989 were largely endorsed by the American public when the administrations of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush warned of a national security threat.

The attacks of September 11, 2001 on The World Trade Center Towers and the Pentagon summoned the American people to "a war on terrorism." Since then, the U.S. government has been constantly trying to mobilize American public opinion to support that war. But this is just the most recent example of how the government has sought to enlist broad public support for the wars it has waged.

"Selling War to America" begins its examination with the U.S. Government's campaign to instigate a war with Spain, and ends with a review of the methods it is using now to encourage support for the 'War Against Terrorism.'  The book analyses each of these wars within the context of the techniques that the government used to generate public support. It shows how the development of new media has made it harder for the government to promote its propaganda, and also examines the results of these propaganda efforts both before and after each conflict.

From these historical analyses, noting both the blunders and the triumphs of the past century, the authors pinpoint the pitfalls and offer the keys to how the government successfully persuades the American public to support its wars.