Walter Lippmann
Walter Lippmann was born on the 23rd of September 1889 on New York's Upper East Side. He grew up as the only child in a wealthy family with German-Jewish parents. His father Jacob Lippmann made money through textile business and real estate speculation. The family spent their summer holidays regularly in Europe. They attended Temple Emanu-El and held Reform Jewish views. Walter received his Reform Jewish confirmation at age 14 instead of a traditional Bar Mitzvah. He felt emotionally distant from both parents but had closer ties to his maternal grandmother. The family identified politically as Republicans.
From 1896 Lippmann attended the Sachs School for Boys. This elite private school followed the German Gymnasium tradition. Classes included eleven hours of ancient Greek and five hours of Latin per week. Shortly before his 17th birthday he entered Harvard University. There he wrote for The Harvard Advocate and studied under George Santayana, William James, and Graham Wallas. He concentrated upon philosophy and languages while speaking German and French. He tried out for The Harvard Crimson but was rejected. He took only one course in history and one in government. He became a member of the Phi Beta Kappa society though important social clubs rejected Jews as members.
In 1913 Lippmann, Herbert Croly, and Walter Weyl became the founding editors of The New Republic. During World War I he served as secretary to George R. Lunn, the first Socialist mayor of Schenectady, New York. Lippmann resigned after four months finding programs inadequate as socialism. In the 28th of June 1918 he was commissioned a captain in the Army. He worked at the intelligence section of the AEF headquarters in France. Edward M. House assigned him to staff duty in October. He attached himself to the American Commission to negotiate peace in December. He returned to the United States in February 1919 and was immediately discharged. Through his connection to House he advised Wilson and assisted drafting Wilson's Fourteen Points speech.
Lippmann published Public Opinion in 1922 to examine how people perceive reality. He argued that distorted information is inherent in the human mind. People make up their minds before they define facts according to his writing. He coined the word stereotype in its modern psychological meaning within this book. He called the notion of a public competent to direct public affairs a false ideal. He compared the political savvy of an average man to a theater-goer walking into a play in the middle of the third act. The news is imperfectly recorded and too fragile to bear the charge as an organ of direct democracy. A governing class must rise to face new challenges in modern society.
Lippmann became the first person to bring the phrase Cold War to common currency. His 1947 book by the same name introduced this term to describe tensions with the Soviet Union. Following the removal from office of Secretary of Commerce Henry A. Wallace in September 1946, Lippmann advocated respecting a Soviet sphere of influence. This stance opposed the containment strategy being advocated at the time by George F. Kennan. After the fall of Singapore in February 1942 he authored a Washington Post column criticizing empire. He called on western nations to identify their cause with freedom and security of peoples of the East.
John Dewey published The Public and Its Problems in 1927 to respond to Lippmann's ideas. Dewey agreed about the irrationality of public opinion but rejected Lippmann's call for a technocratic elite. Dewey believed that in a democracy the public could form a Great Community educated about issues. The Lippmann-Dewey Debate started to be widely discussed by the late 1980s in American communication studies circles. Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky cited Lippmann's advocacy of manufacture of consent in their work Manufacturing Consent. They referred to management of public opinion which Lippmann felt was necessary for democracy to flourish since he viewed public opinion as an irrational force.
Lippmann served as an informal adviser to several presidents throughout his career. On the 14th of September 1964 President Lyndon Johnson presented him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He later feuded with Johnson over handling of the Vietnam War. He won a special Pulitzer Prize for journalism in 1958 as a nationally syndicated columnist. In 1961 he won a Peabody Award for an interview on CBS Reports. That same year he won the annual Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting citing his 1961 interview with Soviet Premier Khrushchev. He retired from his syndicated column in 1967 before dying in New York City due to cardiac arrest in 1974.
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Common questions
When was Walter Lippmann born and where did he grow up?
Walter Lippmann was born on the 23rd of September 1889 on New York's Upper East Side. He grew up as the only child in a wealthy family with German-Jewish parents.
What books did Walter Lippmann write about public opinion and the Cold War?
Walter Lippmann published Public Opinion in 1922 to examine how people perceive reality. His 1947 book by the same name introduced the phrase Cold War to describe tensions with the Soviet Union.
How did Walter Lippmann serve during World War I?
Walter Lippmann was commissioned a captain in the Army on the 28th of June 1918. He worked at the intelligence section of the AEF headquarters in France and attached himself to the American Commission to negotiate peace in December.
Why is the Lippmann-Dewey Debate significant in communication studies?
The Lippmann-Dewey Debate started to be widely discussed by the late 1980s in American communication studies circles. Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky cited Lippmann's advocacy of manufacture of consent in their work Manufacturing Consent.
When did Walter Lippmann receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom and when did he die?
President Lyndon Johnson presented Walter Lippmann with the Presidential Medal of Freedom on the 14th of September 1964. He died in New York City due to cardiac arrest in 1974 after retiring from his syndicated column in 1967.