The Voice of Business

In 1933 John W. Hill opened the New York office of what would<br/>become the most important public relations agency in history:<br/>Hill & Knowlton Inc. By 1959 the combined sales of its<br/>clients - which included Procter & Gamble Texaco Gillette and<br/>Avco Manufacturing as well as the steel tobacco and aviation<br/>industries' trade associations - amounted to 10 percent of the<br/>gross national product. <i>The Voice of Business</i> chronicles Hill<br/>& Knowlton's influence on American public discourse in the<br/>years following World War II.<br/>Guided by its founder's conservative ideals Hill &<br/>Knowlton developed a twofold mission: to influence public<br/>discussion about issues important to its clients and to educate<br/>Americans about big business. Karen Miller shows how the agency<br/>tried to manipulate public opinion political debate and news<br/>media content about such issues as postwar military aircraft<br/>procurement the deregulation of margarine production President<br/>Truman's seizure of steel mills in 1952 and the cigarette health<br/>scare of 1953-54. Though its campaigns did not change many<br/>opinions she says Hill & Knowlton affected the public<br/>indirectly by reinforcing the ideas of its clients and other<br/>conservatives.