Donald Trump’s first week in office has been marked – much as his campaign was – by a non-stop slanging match with media covering his administration.
Political opponents of the President have – understandably – railed against his rejection of
But it was within living memory that the boot was on the other foot – a Democrat president waging war on a right-leaning press he was determined to discredit at every turn.
Harry S. Truman had a similarly antagonistic relationship with the media of his time, and had his equivalents of the “dishonest reporter” and “crooked media” insults deployed by Trump.
He even decried invented stories, an echo of the “fake news” scandals of today.
In a fascinating set of memoirs, published by LIFE magazine in January 1956 and available online, he recalls his battles with the newspapers and radio networks:
The figures showed that approximately 90% of the press and radio opposed me and supported the other candidates. This was to be expected, as most were owned, operated or subsidized by the same private interests that always benefited from Republican economic policies.
…My chief objection was not to the space and time which were purchased by the Republicans because the same were fore sale to the Democrats. I did resent, however, the commonplace practice of distorted editorials and slanted headlines in the press and of outright misrepresentation in the daily offerings of the columnists and commentators.
Truman goes on to tell how he decided the solution was to “circumvent… the false propaganda” by going out on a series of rallies – by train rather than Trump’s trademark jet – and, like Trump, telling his supporters not to trust the media:
It was my conviction that the major media of communication had failed in their responsibility to present facts as facts and opinions and opinion. It seemed to me that many owners, publishers and columnists of the press and radio were deliberately irresponsible during a time of extreme importance to the people of the United States and that they were not living up to the responsibilities attached to the constitutional privileges of freedom of the press and freedom of speech. As far as I was concerned, they had sold out to the special interests, and that is why I referred to them in my campaign speeches as the “kept press and paid radio.”
Sure, Truman’s points are expressed in the vernacular of the 1950s rather than Trump’s much punchier anti-press statements.
But it goes to show, nothing is truly new, and both parties have been at it for decades.