General Leslie Groves: Public Relations and Propaganda, Then and Now

Abstract

The Manhattan Project and the subsequent bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have left their legacies not just in the United States and Japan, but also worldwide. Though initially well received and credited for ending the war, the bombings are a source of never ending debate. between scholars and the general public alike. As more information has come to light in recent years, new arguments have emerged and opinions have changed. However, in August 1945, just after the bombings, very little information was available. This limited amount of information was the work of General Leslie Groves, the head of the Manhattan Project and chief advocate for censorship both before and in the wake of the bombings. By limiting sources and carefully formatting all statements made by the United States government in regards to the atomic bombings, General Groves created an impressive public relations strategy capable of steering the press away from an initially negative reaction to the bombings. However, General Groves' methods were sometimes questionable, and perhaps, in retrospect, immoral. This paper aims to examine his methods by first taking a look at the business of public relations itself, including how it operates today and its history. From there, it will discuss the life of General Groves, his role in the Manhattan Project, and the public relations methods he employed to ensure a positive reaction from the American public. In the final sections, it will analyze the effectiveness of General Groves' strategy by looking at the initial reception of the bombings, and determine, from a modern public relations perspective, if the same methods could be employed today, and whether or not the methods used can be categorized as propaganda. To understand the nature of General Groves' tactics in preparation for the dropping of the atomic bombs, one must first have an understanding of public relations itself. "The use of communication to influence public opinion and human behavior is as old as civilization. Farm bulletins telling farmers how to grow their crops were being issued 1,800 years before Christ was born." (Cutlip, xiv). Though public relations has existed throughout history in one form or another, its origins as a vocation can best be traced to the United States. Due to the First Amendment, it was easy to advocate for one opinion or another without the interference of the government.