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History 2302
The CPI and WWI
When looking back on the United States' history, one feature stands out the most: the U.S. was involved in a lot of wars. Throughout the 20th century, the United States found itself in several major wars. World War I was the first of those major wars. During World War I, many soldiers were overseas fighting the Central Powers, while much of the American public sat helplessly on the home front. Woodrow Wilson saw the potential support that the people at home could provide, so he came up with a way to rally those unused potentials. In order to gain support from the people at home, President Woodrow Wilson established the Committee on Public Information and appointed George Creel as the chairman of the committee. Through out the war, the Committee on Public Information created and distributed many posters about the war that were successful in gaining the support of the public.
This support played a major role in the Allies' victory of World War I.
The Committee on Public Information, or CPI, was established during mid-April 1917 and was headed by George Creel (134). George Creel was working as a journalist when he was appointed by Woodrow Wilson as the head of the Committee on Public Information. According to Creel, the Committee on Public Information was created to "fight for the verdict of mankind" (135). He believed the role of the committee was to inform the public of the reason for the United States' actions overseas. Creel felt that the "war was not fought in France alone", but also had to be fought at home in the United States (135). The most persuasive way to get people at home involved in the war was by using propaganda, such...