A Comparative Analysis of Political Propaganda

Abstract

 

The use of propaganda for political purposes dates back to World War I. Although it can take on a variety of forms and serve diverse interests, it is commonly used as a means of persuasion during Presidential elections in the United States. This comparative analysis will first examine a piece of propaganda from the 1964 Presidential election campaign of Lyndon Johnson and then review propaganda from the 2016 Presidential campaign of Donald Trump. Following, a comparative analysis of these historical and contemporary propagandas will demonstrate that such propaganda has largely remained the same over time.

 

Introduction

 

In classrooms across the United States students may be introduced to propaganda as a weapon that was utilized by Hitler and the Nazi party during the World War II era. A method employed to manipulate the masses, with devastating results. It is a term that has become “almost entirely negative in connotation in the United States [as] it is associated with authoritarianism and governmental abuses of power” (Jack, 9). However, the use of propaganda in politics takes on many forms, not always leading to such disastrous circumstances.

Propaganda first gained attention as a tool utilized by governments and in politics before ultimately being adopted by big business and evolving from there (Bernays, 109). The term takes on many different meanings but can be simply defined as a tool that “simplifies complicated issues or ideology for mass consumption, is always biased, and is geared to achieving a particular end” (Luckert & Bachbach, 2). Throughout history, propaganda has been particularly useful for candidates seeking election to political office and exemplified in a variety of ways during United States Presidential elections. An aware and gifted politician is able to effectively use propaganda to “mold and form the will of the people” to gain support and, ultimately, a vote (Bernays, 109).  Propaganda in this context can range from the more involved, like rallies and television commercials, to the simple, like political posters. Despite the form, however, the propaganda must simplify a complex message and appeal to the emotions of the masses in order to be effective. In this analysis, two pieces of U.S. Presidential election propaganda will be examined to uncover effectiveness, similarities, and differences and determine whether such propaganda has changed over time.

 

Historical Political Propaganda Analysis: The Election of 1964

 

During the election of 1964, the United States had recently lost a young, American president through assassination, the fear of nuclear war with the country's Soviet enemies loomed and domestic issues surrounding civil rights and prosperity through the preservation of social welfare programs were at the forefront of political discourse (Virginia Historical Society). Lyndon Johnson, who inherited the Presidency after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, was seeking election as the democratic candidate running against republican Hubert Humphrey. On the use of propaganda in a political campaign, Edward Bernays suggests that “the first step [...] is to determine the objectives, and to express them exceedingly well in the current form - that is, as a platform” (Bernays, 113) and Lyndon Johnson appears to have heeded such advice as exemplified by the campaign propaganda posted included here.

 

 

Issued by the Johnson campaign to promote his candidacy this poster is an effective form of election propaganda in both its messaging and imagery. As previously mentioned, effective propaganda simplifies a complex message. This piece of election propaganda simplifies the ideals Johnson supports through the use of the slogan “let’s keep building THE GREAT SOCIETY”. Throughout his campaign Johnson promoted civil rights, social welfare programs and vowed to protect the United States against nuclear war with the communist Soviet Union. By simply stating that he was running to ensure a ‘Great Society’, Johnson does not have to specifically list all of his ideals and his plans to achieve them. By simplifying the complexities of what he is trying to accomplish, Johnson appeals to a wide variety of groups including those who support social welfare programs, those who prioritize civil rights and those who value national security. For each of those groups a “Great Society” takes on a different meaning, therefore by using this simple phrase Johnson can obtain all of their support.

In addition to its effective slogan, this campaign poster uses imagery to convey a specific message to the audience. In order to successfully persuade an audience to support a cause, propaganda must bring its audience into a state of emotion (Joffe, 217). The images used here accomplish this in several ways. For example, the use of only red, white, and blue colors on the poster might bring the consumer to a feeling of pride and patriotism. In what could be interpreted as a testimonial (Hobbs & McGee, 59), the propaganda also uses the images of the three previous Democratic Presidents, associating their popularity and success with Johnson. These images evoke emotions including pride and trust amongst its supporters. This propaganda demonstrates that the Democrats have made progress towards building a great society and, if elected, Johnson would continue that progress.

“Whether a campaign edges over from persuasion to manipulation or ideological indoctrination often depends on the perspective of the observer” (Jack, 7). As will all propaganda the messaging and emotions felt depends greatly on the consumer. While supporters of the Johnson campaign might perceive this as positive propaganda, non-supporters might perceive this to be harmful. For example, opponents to the Johnson campaign may see the use of images depicting previous U.S. Presidents as a threat to their own campaigns. Or, as the Democratic Presidents included account for the three previous presidencies, Republicans may find this as offensive because it signifies a gap in Republican leadership. In addition, those who do not believe in the ideals of the Johnson campaign might feel anger when they see the phrase ‘Great Society’ as their definition of a great society does not align with that of Johnson’s. So while this propaganda is effective, it is important to note that its perception is dependent upon the audience. Perception aside, similar use of propaganda can be found in contemporary political elections.

 

Contemporary Political Propaganda Analysis: The Election of 2016

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       Everyone in the United States of America if not the world is familiar with the slogan, “Make America Great Again”. These are the words then candidate Donald Trump lived by throughout his campaign and continues to live by now, during his Presidency. Almost just as much as he used that slogan he used another one, most the time one followed the other. Trump has been quoted saying “We have got to take our country back. It’s time!” as far back as July 6, 2015 in a tweet at 7:48 PM. He continued to use this slogan throughout his campaign making it a staple statement in almost every speech that he gave. Like the “Make America Great Again” slogan, he used it so much that it had been transformed into a Political poster as seen above. The poster features Trumps portrait with his name underneath. The top right contains what looks to be the stripes from the American flag and below that in all capital letters it says, “Take Back Our Country”.

        This poster was then used as a form of political propaganda to gain more support for the Trump administration from his following, while at the same time attempting to pick up the undecided population, or even to transition supporters of other candidates to his supporters.

        It is clear that this image is being used as a form of propaganda but the question remains, what is it telling its viewers and is it an effective form of propaganda? What this comes down to is the analysis of this piece. Done from the most objective point of view one is able to see what this piece’s capability is as a message from both sides.

        For example, upon looking at this piece the first thing one sees is the image of Donald Trump’s face. It is the largest image on the propaganda piece. His face is stern and serious, giving off a feeling of power. The way the picture was taken signals the viewer to believe that if you elect Donald Trump you will be electing what looks to be a strong powerful leader. Continuing with the theme of power you then look at the actual word, “Take Back Our Country”. This is a powerful statement that insists that our country has been brought to a place where “we” the supporters of Trump do not have any control over it and need to take it back for ourselves. By using the word ‘take” trump is suggesting that he has the ability to bring our country back to what he believes it should be. The word take implies force, alluding to the idea that he will use force if he must.

        The election poster also features what looks to be part of the American flag and almost all the font on the poster is in either red, white, or blue, the colors of the United States flag, the colors of the United states. This is done in order to give off the idea that if you vote for the Trump then you are being patriotic. By using these colors, he is attempting to come off as the most patriotic candidate. This appealing to a voter’s love for patriotism, they might see Trump as the most patriotic choice.

        However, there is no good without the bad, in order to stay objective one must look at this piece of propaganda from every angle. Like most things in life everything is about how the viewer interoperates what they are looking at. For example, when analyzing this campaign poster although two people are looking at the same thing they might have completely different views from one another.

        For example, like mentioned before the first thing you see when looking at this piece of propaganda is Donald Trump’s face, stern, and serious. One might instead see this as an uninviting face, a face filled with anger. He in no way looks like the friendly candidate from this picture. Instead some might believe he looks deceitful or untrustworthy. Others might recognize that face and see him as a celebrity, someone who is running a for President as a publicity stunt, who has no business being in office, only in it to make his name bigger.

        Then you move to the words again, “Take Our Country Back” this sentence can be read in a way that implies so much more. For instance, it could imply that he believes America is built for people like him, the white, the rich, and the powerful. With all this new found protesting and fighting for equal rights that is happening in our country it only backs it up. By that word choice Donald Trump is implying that the white, and the rich are losing “their” country. It seems that he is choosing to ignore the fact that America was founded on the idea of being a melting pot of different race, gender, creed, and colors. Not to mention the fact that it was never “our” country at all and “we” as Americans in fact took it from the already indigenous people.

        As mentioned earlier, the word take implies force, and the word force goes hand in hand with physical movement and violence. This political piece of propaganda can be read saying that Trump may believe that the use of violence is okay to secure the country the way he wants it to be or the way he believes it should be.

        No matter how you look at this form of propaganda or what your opinion is of it or him as the President or at that time as the potential Presidential Candidate, the question that everyone must ask is, was this particular piece of propaganda effective or not? The answer is no; this is because it is too specific. “Make America Great Again” worked because you could apply it to a whole lot more, jobs, economy, sports, anti-war, it could be applied to anything. This however could not. There is too much “force” that comes with the word take. One can look at this piece of political propaganda and see too much that is potentially harmful or offensive for it to be considered a successful piece of political propaganda. The perfect piece of propaganda would apply to everyone. Everyone is able to find common ground with it, and it is able to pull supporters from every side, because this piece of propaganda does not do that, because it insinuates so much negativity that it cannot possibly be respected by the majority of voters, and people interested in the political campaign or studies of propaganda. The goal is to reach the greatest audience and this piece fails to do so.

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Comparative Analysis

 

One would expect that the propaganda of our past and of our present would greatly differ, especially considering the harsh criticism that propaganda has faced over the years. However, in actuality they share a lot of similarities. This can be seen by comparing the political campaign poster of Lyndon Johnson in the election of 1964 and that of Donald Trump in 2016.

When examining the two forms of propaganda, the first thing that comes to mind are the colors that were chosen for the posters themselves. Both campaign posters use the colors of the United States flag, that being red, white, and blue. This is very effective because it evokes a feeling of patriotism in both posters. By using this color scheme, the candidates are tapping into the voters need to feel like they are a part of the country and a good citizen. Everyone wants to be a good citizen of their country so when they vote for the candidate that uses the colors of our country on their poster it makes the voter feel as if they are voting for the most patriotic candidate. In an article in the Atlantic written by Elijah Wolfson entitled “How Color Shapes Our Lives” Jerald Kralik a professor of Psychology and Brain Science at the University of Dartmouth explains how something as small as color effects our decisions, “to the extent that even our highest-level cognition and intelligence are biased by these low level impressions”  (Wolfson, How Color Shapes Our Lives). What Kralik explained here is that even the most important decisions in our lives are truly shaped by the “low level impressions” of color and how we react to seeing a color. This eluding to the fact that color is one of the most important things that someone can take to into consideration when designing a piece of propaganda whether political or not.

The next, and possibly biggest, and most obvious, tactic that these campaign posters both used was the addition of faces of the candidates. The Trump Administrations poster used a stern picture of Donald Trump as they key focus on the poster. It is the largest and most obvious piece on the poster, it was what initially drawers the viewer in. In 1964 Lyndon B. Johnson was using the same tactic on his campaign poster. Although his face was not as big on that poster as Donald Trump's it was put on the forefront. Johnson, like Trump, has a stern face on that is meant to imply power and strength, which are two key qualities in a leader. However, there are some notable differences in these images as well. For example, while Trump appears alone Johnson appears with images of previous Democratic Presidents including Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman and John F. Kennedy. This seems to suggest that Johnson was hoping to be affiliated with the success of his predecessors while Trump is clearly opting to stand alone. Such a difference seems to suggest that both candidates understood their audience and was attempting to appeal to their own political climate.

Finally, similarities in the messaging are apparent. They both contain a call to action. They both see the country in a certain state and have built their campaign around the words they chose to include, building a sense of purpose in their voters. For example, Trump is calling on voters to “Take Our Country Back” and Johnson is calling for his voters to help “Build the Great Society”. This messaging gives the voters a feeling of being involved. In consideration of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, the third is the need to belong or feel apart of something. From the youngest of ages one of the most important desires for a human is to be involved. By creating the statements found on these propagandas both Johnson and Trump intentionally use words that make the viewer feel like they have a part in whatever change the Presidential Candidate has in mind. Humans thrive on that feeling of belonging and both pieces of propaganda do a tremendous job of tapping into those feelings.

While there are many similarities in the messaging described above, there are some differences as well. As described above, each piece of propaganda presents a call to action but the sentiment created differs. First consider the phrase on Johnson’s poster. He start’s with the word “let’s” signifying unity and creating a sense of togetherness. Contrastingly, Trumps propaganda utilizes the effectiveness of creating an “us versus them” mentality by suggesting that the United States has been “taken” and it is time for Americans to take it back from a perceived enemy, an effective strategy described by Noam Chomsky (1928). Though these are opposing sentiments, one might argue that each is reflective of the political context of their respective era’s.

 

Conclusion

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As previously described, the term “propaganda” has been looked upon in the most negative of lights, and not for lack of a good reason. Stemming from its religious roots in the 1600’s (Crispin Miller, 9) propaganda has undergone many changes most significantly when used by Hitler and the Nazi party. By using propaganda to convince millions of people to persecute and attempt to exterminate not only the Jews but, the Polish, the mentally ill or anyone who was not Aryan, Hitler was able to change the worlds feelings about propaganda which has had a lasting effect. Despite its negative connotation, propaganda can in fact be both positive and negative. It’s a widely used tool employed to influence others to agree or come together to meet a common cause. Additionally it takes place in many contexts such as in business, in art, in politics, and is created by a variety of medias.

When observing and analyzing political propaganda of the past and the present it is learned that many of the same tactics that were used in the past are still in effect in today's propaganda, though differences are visible and apparent. The idea of propaganda is to tap into the minds and the feelings of the people you are trying to attract and used those feelings to alter their minds to support your cause. Some may argue that political propaganda is archaic and would benefit from taking advice of the business world (Bernays, 110) but propaganda will continue to be an interesting and effective form of political campaigning.

 

Works Cited

 

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Hobbs, R. & McGee, S. (2014). Teaching about propaganda: An examination of the historical

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Jack, Caroline (2017). Lexicon of Lies: Terms for Problematic Information. New York: Data and

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Joffe, Helene (2008). The Power of Visual Material: Persuasion, Emotion and

Identification. Diogenes 217: 84 – 93.

 

Luckert, S. & Bachbach, S. (2009). State of Deception: The Power of Nazi Propaganda. London:

British Library.

 

McLeaod, S. (2016, February 04). Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Retrieved November 06, 2017,

from https://www.simplypyschology.org/maslow.html

 

Now and Then: American Propaganda and Protest Posters. (2017, March 01). Retrieved

November 06, 2017, from http://www.printmag.com/design-education/online-

design-courses/now-then-american-propagnda -posters/

 

Wolfson, E. (2014, January 29). How Color Shapes Our Lives. Retrieved November 06, 2017,

from https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/01/how-color-

shapes-our-lives/283376/

 

Therealdonaldtrump. (2015, July 6). We have got to take our country back. It’s time! [Tweet].

https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/618250232132968452

 

Virginia Historical Society. (n.d.). Retrieved November 01, 2017, from

http://www.vahistorical.org/collections-and-resources/virginia-history-explorer/

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