Chapter 1 examines the origins of the relationship between American foreign relations and the public relations industry through an examination of the promotion of World War I. Key to this is an examination of the wartime government propaganda agency, the Committee on Public Information. In particular, the chapter highlights five key individuals who went on to play significant roles in connecting the public relations industry to international affairs over the next half century: Edward Bernays, Carl Byoir, John Price Jones, Ivy Lee, and Arthur Page.

Chapter 6 looks at how the Cold War strengthened connections between PR firms and the US government. In the heightened Cold War context of the late 1940s, the US government embraced propaganda and looked to the PR industry to help it promote its foreign policy. The industry happily obliged. It did so most notably through the Crusade for Freedom campaign that raised money for Radio Free Europe, which broadcast American propaganda behind the iron curtain. What the American people did not know was that Radio Free Europe’s creator, the National Committee for Free Europe (NCFE), was not an organically created citizens’ organization. It was in fact a front organization created by the CIA. Arthur Page knew, and he was happy to help regardless. Other PR leaders, such as Edward Bernays, urged more effective use of the government’s overseas information services, such as the United States Information Agency (USIA).