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 TO
S U Z A N N E, L E O, A N D L I Z A
Liberalism will become an enclave conviction of a
shrinking minority unless those who call themselves
liberal reconnect their faith in tolerance, equality,
opportunity for all with the more difficult faith in the
dirty, loud-mouthed, false, lying business of politics
itself. This disdain is cynicism, masking as high
principle.
—MICHAEL IGNATIEFF, “Letter to a Young Liberal,”
The New Republic, Nov. 24–Dec. 8, 2014

One belief, more than any other, is responsible for the

slaughter of individuals on the altars of the great
historical ideals—justice or progress or the happiness
of future generations, or the sacred mission or
emancipation of a nation or race or class, or even
liberty itself. . . . This is the belief that somewhere, in
the past or in the future, in divine revelation or in the
mind of an individual thinker, in the pronouncements of
history or science, or in the simple heart of an
uncorrupted good man, there is a final solution.
—ISAIAH BERLIN, “Two Concepts of Liberty”
 CONTENTS

Cast of Characters

Introduction: A World of Spin

PART I: THE AGE OF PUBLICITY

1. Theodore Roosevelt and the Public Presidency
2. William McKinley and the Passing of the Old Order
3. The Rise of Public Opinion
4. “The Fair-Haired”
5. Muckraking and Its Critics
6. The Passion of Upton Sinclair
7. The Dawn of Public Relations
8. Wilson Speaks
9. Pitiless Publicity
10. The Press Agents’ War
11. The Journey of George Creel
12. Disillusionment

PART II: THE AGE OF BALLYHOO

13. Return to Normalcy
14. Walter Lippmann and the Problem of the Majority
15. The Likes and Dislikes of H. L. Mencken
16. Bruce Barton and the Soul of the 1920s
17. “Silent Cal”
18. The Overt Acts of Edward Bernays
19. Master of Emergencies

PART III: THE AGE OF COMMUNICATION

20. Tuned to Roosevelt
21. Nazism and Propaganda
22. The Dark Side of Radio
23. Campaigns, Inc.
24. The Wizard of Washington
25. The Road to War
26. The Facts and Figures of Archibald MacLeish
27. Propaganda and the “Good War”

PART IV: THE AGE OF NEWS MANAGEMENT

28. The Underestimation of Harry Truman
29. George Gallup’s Democracy
30. Psychological Warfare
31. Eisenhower Answers America
32. Salesmanship and Secrecy
33. The TV President
34. “Atoms for Peace”
35. Vance Packard and the Anxiety of Persuasion

PART V: THE AGE OF IMAGE MAKING

36. The Unmaking of Presidential Mystique
37. The Great Debates
38. The Politics of Image
39. The Kennedy Moment
40. News Management in Camelot
41. Crisis
42. “Let Us Continue”
43. The Credibility Gap
44. The New Politics

PART VI: THE AGE OF SPIN

45. The Permanent Campaign Arrives
46. The Reagan Apotheosis
47. Spinning Out of Control
48. George W. Bush and the “Truthiness” Problem
49. Barack Obama and the Spin of No Spin

Acknowledgments
Notes
Image Credits
Illustrations
Index
 CAST OF CHARACTERS

Presidents
WILLIAM McKINLEY (1897–1901)
THEODORE ROOSEVELT (1901–09)
WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT (1909–13)
WOODROW WILSON (1913–21)
WARREN G. HARDING (1921–23)
CALVIN COOLIDGE (1923–29)
HERBERT HOOVER (1929–33)
FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT (1933–45)
HARRY S. TRUMAN (1945–53)
DWIGHT EISENHOWER (1953–61)
JOHN F. KENNEDY (1961–63)
LYNDON JOHNSON (1963–69)
RICHARD NIXON (1969–74)
GERALD FORD (1974–77)
JIMMY CARTER (1977–81)
RONALD REAGAN (1981–89)
GEORGE BUSH (1989–93)
BILL CLINTON (1993–2001)
GEORGE W. BUSH (2001–09)
BARACK OBAMA (2009–17)

Other Politicians
WILLIAM BENTON, senator, Connecticut; founder, Benton & Bowles
advertising agency
WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN, congressman, Nebraska; three-time
Democratic presidential nominee; secretary of state under
Woodrow Wilson
SAMUEL DICKSTEIN, congressman, New York; founder, House Un-
American Activities Committee; Soviet spy
EVERETT DIRKSEN, Republican Senate minority leader
BARRY GOLDWATER, senator, Arizona; 1964 Republican presidential
nominee
AL GORE, senator, Tennessee; U.S. vice president; 2000 Democratic
presidential nominee
CHARLIE HALLECK, Republican House minority leader
HUEY LONG, governor and senator, Louisiana
“PITCHFORK BEN” TILLMAN, senator, South Carolina
ADLAI STEVENSON, governor, Illinois; two-time Democratic
presidential nominee
GEORGE WALLACE, governor of Alabama

Spin Doctors
ROGER AILES, television aide to Richard Nixon; campaign manager
for George Bush; founder, Fox News Channel
GEORGE AKERSON, White House press secretary under Hoover
LEE ATWATER, campaign consultant to George Bush
DAVID AXELROD, campaign consultant and White House aide to
Barack Obama
BRUCE BARTON, founder, BDO (later BBD&O) advertising; author,
The Man Nobody Knows; adviser to Coolidge, Hoover,
 Eisenhower; U.S. Republican congressman from New York City
EDWARD BERNAYS, public relations counsel; occasional political
adviser
JOSEPH BUCKLIN BISHOP, journalist; information officer for Panama
Canal project
PATRICK CADDELL, pollster to Jimmy Carter
HADLEY CANTRIL, public opinion researcher; wartime pollster for
FDR
JAMES CARVILLE, campaign consultant to Bill Clinton
GEORGE B. CORTELYOU, White House stenographer, clerk,
secretary; cabinet official
GEORGE CREEL, muckraking journalist; director of the Committee on
Public Information; Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate from
California
ELMER DAVIS, journalist and broadcaster; director of Office of War
Information under FDR
MICHAEL DEAVER, public relations aide to Ronald Reagan
MILTON EISENHOWER, brother of Dwight Eisenhower; public
information officer under FDR
GEORGE GALLUP, pollster; supporter of psychological warfare
DAVID GERGEN, communications aide to Nixon, Reagan, and
Clinton; pundit
JOSEPH GOEBBELS, minister of propaganda and popular
enlightenment in Nazi Germany
JAMES HAGERTY, White House press secretary under Dwight
Eisenhower; executive at ABC News
LOUIS HARRIS, pollster to JFK
WILL HAYS, chairman, Republican National Committee; president of
the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America
EMIL HURJA, pollster for Democratic National Committee and FDR
WILL IRWIN, muckraking journalist; aide to Herbert Hoover
C. D. JACKSON, publisher, Fortune magazine; special assistant to
Dwight Eisenhower for psychological warfare
GERARD LAMBERT, advertising mogul; partner of Hadley Cantril in
wartime public opinion research
ALBERT LASKER, president, Lord & Thomas advertising agency;
adviser, Republican National Committee and Warren Harding
IVY LEDBETTER LEE, public relations pioneer; publicist on
Democratic campaigns
WILLIAM LOEB, White House secretary under TR
FRANK LUNTZ, Republican pollster
ARCHIBALD MACLEISH, poet and playwright; Librarian of Congress
and director of Office of Facts and Figures under FDR
CHARLES MICHELSON, longtime journalist; Democratic National
Committee publicist; speechwriter to FDR
ROBERT MONTGOMERY, Hollywood actor; television coach to Dwight
Eisenhower
DICK MORRIS, pollster to Bill Clinton
BILL MOYERS, political and press aide to Lyndon Johnson
JOE NAPOLITAN, Democratic political consultant
PEGGY NOONAN, speechwriter to Ronald Reagan
ARTHUR W. PAGE, public relations aide at Department of Defense
during World War II
OLIVER QUAYLE, protégé of Louis Harris; pollster to Lyndon Johnson
GERALD RAFSHOON, media consultant to Jimmy Carter
ROSSER REEVES, advertising executive; consultant to Dwight
Eisenhower
LEONARD REINSCH, radio and television adviser to Harry Truman
and JFK
SAMUEL ROSENMAN, speechwriter for FDR; New York state judge
KARL ROVE, campaign consultant and White House aide to George
W. Bush
WILLIAM SAFIRE, public relations aide; speechwriter for Richard
Nixon
PIERRE SALINGER, magazine journalist; press secretary to JFK
TONY SCHWARTZ, radio programmer; advertising consultant;
Democratic political consultant
SCOTT SFORZA, television aide to George W. Bush
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, campaign consultant and White House
aide to Bill Clinton
ARTHUR SYLVESTER, Defense Department public relations aide
under JFK and Johnson
ROBERT TEETER, Republican pollster
JOSEPH TUMULTY, White House secretary under Woodrow Wilson
GEORGE SYLVESTER VIERECK, propagandist for Germany in World
Wars I and II
JUDSON WELLIVER, speechwriter for Harding and Coolidge;
journalist
CLEM WHITAKER and LEONE BAXTER, full-service California-based
political consultants
WILLIAM WILSON, television adviser to Adlai Stevenson and JFK
RICHARD WIRTHLIN, pollster to Ronald Reagan

Intellectuals and Journalists

JOSEPH ALSOP, syndicated columnist
STEWART ALSOP, brother of Joseph Alsop; syndicated columnist
HANNAH ARENDT, political theorist, University of Chicago, The New
School
RAY STANNARD BAKER, leading muckraker; press aide to U.S.
delegation to Paris peace talks after World War I; biographer of
Woodrow Wilson
DANIEL BOORSTIN, professor of history, University of Chicago;
Librarian of Congress; author of The Image
STEPHEN COLBERT, satirist, The Colbert Report
CHARLES COUGHLIN, Catholic priest and radio broadcaster
HERBERT CROLY, editor of The New Republic; progressive theorist
OSCAR KING DAVIS, New York Times correspondent; press aide to
TR, 1912 campaign
RICHARD HARDING DAVIS, reporter; chronicler of Spanish-American
War, World War I
JOHN DEWEY, philosopher and theorist of democracy
ROBERT DREW, filmmaker; director of Primary and Crisis
JACK GOULD, New York Times television critic
ARTHUR KROCK, reporter, bureau chief and columnist, New York
Times
GEORGE LAKOFF, linguist, author, Moral Politics and Don’t Think of
an Elephant!
WALTER LIPPMANN, founder, The New Republic; Wilson
administration aide; author, Public Opinion; leading syndicated
columnist
SAMUEL “S.S.” McCLURE, founder and publisher, McClure’s magazine
JOE McGINNISS, journalist; author of The Selling of the President,
1968
MARSHALL McLCUHAN, professor of English; communications
theorist
H. L. MENCKEN, critic and columnist
CLYDE MILLER, Columbia University Teachers College; founder,
Institute for Propaganda Analysis
VANCE PACKARD, journalist, American Magazine; author, The Hidden
Persuaders
JAMES RESTON, reporter, bureau chief and columnist, New York
Times
JACOB RIIS, muckraking journalist
LINDSAY ROGERS, Columbia University political scientist; author, The
Pollsters
EDWARD ROSS, University of Wisconsin sociologist; theorist of public
opinion
UPTON SINCLAIR, leading muckraker; author, The Jungle;
Democratic nominee for governor of California, 1934
FRANK STANTON, communications researcher, president of CBS
LINCOLN STEFFENS, leading muckraker
IDA TARBELL, leading muckraker
GARRY TRUDEAU, cartoonist, Doonesbury
THEODORE H. WHITE, journalist for Time magazine; author, The
Making of the President, 1960, and sequels
WILLIAM ALLEN WHITE, editor, Emporia Gazette; contributor,
McClure’s; chairman, Committee to Defend America by Aiding the
Allies
REPUBLIC
OF SPIN
 INTRODUCTION

A WORLD OF SPIN

OUR POLITICAL WORLD is awash in spin. Over many decades now,

elected officials and their aides have forged a huge arsenal of tools
and techniques to shape their messages, their images, and our
thinking. From the White House on down, virtually every politician of
note boasts a brigade of speechwriters, press secretaries, campaign
consultants, media gurus, handlers, pollsters, hucksters, flacks,
hacks, and other assorted spinmeisters to ensure that each
utterance and pose is rendered in the best achievable light.
Sometimes our politics seem to be nothing but spin—a dizzying,
cacophonous whirl of claims and counterclaims. Each side charges
the other with spin while asserting for itself a purchase on the truth.
The growth of spin has given rise to a series of now familiar
complaints. We hear that our politics are phony and corrupt; that our
leaders are packaged and unprincipled; that their rhetoric is shallow
and poll-tested; that even the most important political events—
debates, conventions, speeches, interviews, press briefings—are
scripted, staged, and choreographed. Worse, we hear, spin misleads
or deceives us. And even if it’s disbelieved or evaluated skeptically, it
chokes off the honest and open discourse our democracy needs,
rendering our politics vapid, artificial, or bankrupt. And because the
White House dominates the channels of communication, presidential
spin in particular plays into long-standing American fears of a too
powerful executive.
 Running for president in 2008, Barack Obama was only the latest
candidate to run against spin, depicting himself as a straight shooter,
true to his principles and allergic to Washington cant. With his roots
in community organizing and his stand against the invasion of Iraq,
Obama claimed to offer a clean break from Bill Clinton and his poll-
tested centrism, and from George W. Bush and his deceptive rhetoric
about the Iraq war. “Most of us are wise to the ways of admen,
pollsters, speechwriters, and pundits,” a pensive Obama wrote in
The Audacity of Hope, the book that launched his campaign. “We
know how high-flying words can be deployed in the service of
cynical aims, and how the noblest sentiments can be subverted in
the service of power, expedience, greed, or intolerance.” Obama
described his rude awakening upon coming to Washington, as he
saw how “jokes got screened, irony became suspect, spontaneity
was frowned upon, and passion was considered downright
dangerous.” Eventually, he confessed, “I started to wonder how long
it took for a politician to internalize all this, . . . before even the
‘candid’ moments became scripted, so that you choked up or
expressed outrage only on cue. How long before you started
sounding like a politician?” On Larry King Live in 2008, he pledged
“less spin and more straight talk.”1
Fed up, like many of us, with the Kabuki rituals of Washington
politics, Obama surely did not want to sound “like a politician.” But
his own “high-flying words” were also, for lack of a better word,
spin. After his 2008 victory, his own spin doctors gloated about their
clever, even deceptive messaging. Once he took office, his White
House communications team labored as mightily as any to promote
his image and message. To the vast machinery that a century of
presidents had built before him—press conferences, public affairs
bureaus, speechwriting teams, pollsters, media coaches, advertising
campaigns—Obama added twenty-first-century innovations like a
White House videographer and a Twitter feed.2
But when Obama faced setbacks, as all presidents do, he chalked
up his troubles to bad spin. “Given how much stuff was coming at
us,” Obama said in 2010, “we probably spent much more time trying
to get the policy right than trying to get the politics right. . . . And I
think anybody who’s occupied this office has to remember that
success is determined by an intersection in policy and politics and
that you can’t be neglecting of marketing and P.R. and public
opinion.”3
This, too, was spin. Politicians routinely blame bad PR for their
troubles. They and their supporters find it comforting to claim that
they lost a political battle not on the merits, but only in the
superficial, grubby, and disreputable realm of communication. Yet if
spin can help sell a policy or a candidate, its powers tend to be
overrated. Obama’s White House communications team may not
have done him any great favors, but his poll numbers sagged mainly
because of the wheezing U.S. economy and chaos around the globe.
“The Titanic had an iceberg problem,” the political consultant Paul
Begala quipped. “It did not have a communications problem.”4
Whatever its merits, Obama’s call for more White House spin flew
in the face of his previous calls for less spin. And yet the president’s
acknowledgment of the need for spin was welcome. He showed that
he understood that in a democracy, spin is how leaders make their
case to a sovereign public. It’s a way to engage, persuade, and
mobilize the people in whom power ultimately resides.
In deploring spin while also desiring it, Barack Obama is like the
rest of us. We denounce spin when we see it as misleading. But we
embrace spin when we see it as leading.
This ambivalence has a venerable lineage. In ancient Athens,
philosophers debated the value of rhetoric, the Greeks’ version of
spin. Plato believed it was always bad. Unlike philosophy, which used
reason in the pursuit of truth, rhetoric relied on emotion and
sophistry to induce in listeners conviction, not necessarily true belief.
Rhetoric, to Plato, was a fraudulent, debased form of philosophy,
likely to delude an excitable public.5
Plato’s student Aristotle took a different view. Aristotle considered
rhetoric a neutral instrument to be used for good or ill. Because he
believed in the public’s capacity for deliberation, he allowed a place
in public debate for emotion, which he thought wards off
indifference and encourages engagement. What Aristotle decried
wasn’t the use of rhetoric but its abuse, its employment for immoral
ends.6
Today, like the Obama of 2008, we fancy ourselves Platonists,
deploring the inauthenticity of media politics and the unholy
ministrations of the spin doctors. But deep down—perhaps
unwittingly—we’re Aristotelians. Like the Obama of 2010, we’re
ready to embrace spin if it serves what we consider legitimate
purposes.

We sometimes assume that spin is a new feature of politics, that it

began with Ronald Reagan, or John F. Kennedy, or television. Joe
McGinniss, in The Selling of the President, 1968, said that Richard
Nixon’s campaign that year invented the idea of hawking a candidate
like a pack of cigarettes. A generation later, the political reporter Joe
Klein, in Politics Lost, traced the decline to a 1976 memo by Jimmy
Carter’s pollster Patrick Caddell outlining a “continuing political
campaign” to maintain popular favor. But neither McGinniss, who
was twenty-six when he covered Nixon, nor Caddell, who was
twenty-six when he wrote that memo, noted the abundant
antecedents for what they described.7
In fact, in the broadest sense of the term, spin has always been a
part of politics. Politics involves advancing one’s interests and values
in the public sphere, and political leadership means winning and
sustaining public support. From the orators of Plato and Aristotle’s
day to the European monarchs who superintended their images,
leaders have always given thought to the words and images that will
help them remain popular and achieve their goals.8
In liberal democracies, especially, leaders have to make their case
to the public. Despots can compel allegiance through force; closed
societies can bludgeon their people with propaganda. But
democracies require politicians to appeal to the public, and that
means putting some argument, some slant, some spin, on the facts.
To be sure, when government bureaus furnish basic news and
information—unemployment statistics, airline regulations, accounts
of international events to which only they have access—we should
expect uninflected accuracy. But it would be strange if a president
gave an Oval Office address lobbying for a new program, or bill, or
war, only to follow it with a second address arguing against the
same thing. We expect presidents to lead in the direction they deem
prudent and to arrange the facts to add up to a persuasive
argument, albeit one that remains, we hope, within the range of
defensibly truthful claims.
The president of the United States is probably even more
dependent on public approval than other democratic leaders. In
parliamentary systems, a prime minister leads as the head of a
party; in the United States, the president derives power directly from
the populace. This was true even in the nineteenth century, before
the tight relationship between presidents and parties atrophied,
before the advent of mass communications, and before the
presidency became the driver of policy that it is today. In 1858,
Abraham Lincoln deemed public opinion to be the heart of
democracy. “Public sentiment is everything,” he declared in his
debates with Stephen Douglas. “With public sentiment nothing can
fail; without it nothing can succeed.” Nineteenth-century presidents
also paid attention to spreading their messages and fashioning their
images. They didn’t have today’s huge spin machine, but they did
have vibrant party newspapers such as Andrew Jackson’s highly
partisan Washington Globe.9
Yet for most of the nineteenth century, presidents largely
accepted the constitutional vision of Congress as the first branch of
government and the seat of policy making, with the president an
administrative officer. “The business of the president, sometimes
great, is usually not much above routine,” wrote Woodrow Wilson,
then a political scientist, in 1885. A few powerful exceptions, such as
Jackson and Lincoln, used their status as the people’s tribune to
augment the powers of their office. But as the litany of forgettable
nineteenth-century presidents suggests, the White House simply
wasn’t where the action was. The Washington correspondent for a
major newspaper didn’t spend time at the Executive Mansion (as it
was then called), which had no press office and no accommodations
for reporters. But the Senate press gallery teemed with writers, who
plied their trade in sumptuous digs, replete with red leather couches,
mirrors framed in gold, and a standing supply of alcohol.10
Not until the twentieth century—with the ascent of Theodore
Roosevelt and what has been called “the public presidency”—did
presidents make courting public opinion central to their job. When
TR assumed the White House in 1901, there existed almost none of
the means that today’s presidents use to shape their images and
messages. But Roosevelt, unusually keen to make the office into a
seat of activity, sought authority for his ambitious agenda by
appealing directly to the mass public. Eight years later, he had put in
place key elements of the White House spin machinery, from his use
of the “bully pulpit” to informal afternoon press conferences to the
hiring of press agents to promote his pet causes. Afterwards, there
was no turning back.11
But if Progressives like TR hailed the president’s public
engagement as a key to activist government, presidential spin from
the outset also had its detractors, who accused TR (as critics would
accuse his successors) of using the press and other tools of
communication for political gain or personal aggrandizement. A
pattern was thus set: For the next century, presidents and their
aides crafted strategies to mobilize the public on behalf of their
goals, while rivals and critics—in Congress, the opposing party, the
press, the intelligentsia—decried these innovations as deceptive,
illegitimate, self-serving. All believed they were arguing on behalf of
American democracy.
This book is a narrative history of spin and the American
presidency.12 It contends that the emergence of a strong presidency
in the twentieth century brought with it an increasing need for
presidents (as well as their aforementioned rivals and critics) to
master the arts of public persuasion, in order to promote their
policies and themselves. To support and illustrate this contention,
the book tells the story of the architects and engineers who created
and refined the tools and techniques, institutions and practices, that
presidents since TR have relied on to influence public opinion—for
leading and for misleading. Many of these people were presidents,
who strove to lead public opinion. Others were advisers—some
famous, some obscure—who helped presidents and other politicians
gauge the public mood, deliver speeches, deal with the press, and
otherwise work the levers of the growing spin machine. Interacting
with one another across administrations and generations, sharing
certain basic qualities, these innovators embodied a professional
type that came to dominate politics in the twentieth century: experts
in information, trained in journalism, media, advertising, social
science and related fields, traffickers in the words, images, and
symbols that have come to define modern democratic politics.
The rise of White House spin was not uncontested. The book also
argues that the steady refinement of presidential spin gave rise to a
pervasive anxiety about political persuasion, expressing a
fundamental concern about the future of American democracy in a
time of a strong presidency, far-reaching mass communications, and
sophisticated professional techniques. Hence, intertwined with the
story of the presidents and their spin doctors, this book also
recounts the evolving and clashing attitudes of the journalists,
writers, and intellectuals who observed and dissected spin as it
developed. Some were boosters who celebrated advances in spin,
believing that new tools of image and message craft would help our
leaders fulfill democracy’s promise. Others were critics, warning that
these new practices were corrupting democracy by assisting
politicians in manipulating the public. Still others might be called
realists, who accepted the new world of spin yet tried to demystify
it, hoping to improve democracy by educating citizens about how
political words and images and symbols work. Together, their ideas
constituted a vast, rolling argument about spin and what it means
for a modern democracy.
In the beginning, they didn’t call it spin.
Though many of the practices we associate with spin are ancient,
they used to go by different names. In Theodore Roosevelt’s day, to
promulgate a message or image was called publicity. Originating as
a synonym for exposure, publicity evolved into a term for self-
promotion. As it did so, it took on a whiff of salesmanship, akin to
that Roaring Twenties neologism ballyhoo. Public relations similarly
began as an upstanding, well-groomed scion of the seedier press
agentry, but was soon itself exposed as a slick euphemism.
Propaganda, which started as a Catholic Church term, kept a neutral
meaning for centuries, but after World War I it came, as the political
scientist Harold Lasswell wrote, “to have an ominous clang in many
minds.” After Hitler and Stalin, its use in the context of an open
society struck most people as inapt. Scholars of propaganda like
Lasswell now began to study communication.13
Other coinages arose. The Cold War brought news management,
an ungainly shard of bureaucratese designed to capture the postwar
presidents’ regulation of the information flow amid superpower
tensions. (On the international front, we got psychological warfare,
which later became public diplomacy.) Television, with its flood of
commercials, gave rise to selling, advertising, packaging, marketing,
and image making. Today, with those terms tainted, a new crop of
euphemisms has sprouted, each with its nuances: messaging,
branding, framing, strategic communications. Political scientists Larry
Jacobs and Robert Shapiro have proposed crafted talk—the “use [of]
research on public opinion to pinpoint the most alluring words,
symbols, and arguments in an attempt to move public opinion to
support . . . desired policies”)—while the philosopher Harry Frankfurt
serves up bullshit.14
Yet spin remains the shorthand of choice—pithy, lighthearted,
evocative, and, I would argue, not necessarily derogatory. To be
sure, not everyone uses spin the same way. Like its antecedents, it
can be descriptive or pejorative. For some people, spin has already
degenerated into a synonym for damage control or glossing an
unpleasant reality or even lying. But dictionary definitions retain the
more neutral meaning: “a bias or slant on information, intended to
create a favorable impression when it is presented to the public,” “an
interpretation or viewpoint,” or the “deliberate shading of news
perception; attempted control of political reaction.” Spin implies a
deliberate attempt to stop short of lying, while still putting the best
face on one’s position.15
Spin also gives off notes of playfulness, irony, and even
postmodern self-consciousness. Just as ballyhoo and news
management belong to their eras, spin belongs to ours, reflecting
the acute public awareness of political manipulation that has
developed over the last century. In contrast to propaganda, spin
signals that audience members aren’t passive objects to be acted
upon but active players in the game, participants in creating
meaning. In calling something spin, moreover, we’re indicating that
we can see through it; paradoxically, spin implies a certain
ineffectiveness. As Obama noted, most of us are wise to the ways of
admen, pollsters, speechwriters, and pundits. We’re creatures of the
age of spin.
The self-conscious dimension of spin is clear from the term’s
history. At first spin was applied only to individual statements, not to
any larger phenomenon. For ages people have talked about “putting
a positive spin” on something. But only recently did spin become the
catch-all term for a distinct feature of politics—the systematic use,
through a range of tools and techniques, of public image and
message craft. Although it cropped up in the 1970s, it was in the
Reagan years that David Gergen, Lee Atwater, and other aides were
regularly using the word in this new sense. The following years gave
Americans the rock band the Spin Doctors, the political sitcom Spin
City, and the delightful low-budget documentary Spin, which was
assembled from raw satellite feeds showing politicians behind the
scenes, unguarded, honing their messages for public
consumption.16
The term spin achieved takeoff between 1984 and 1988, thanks
to the presidential debates. Since 1976, during post-debate
commentary, candidates’ surrogates had been loyally lavishing praise
on their man’s performance whether they believed it or not. By
1988, journalists had christened the corridor where these
cheerleaders congregated “Spin Alley.” (It was later upgraded to “the
Spin Room.”) One partisan who was plumping for Democratic
nominee Michael Dukakis in the UCLA Student Union that fall was a
vanquished rival of his from the spring primaries, one who embraced
his thankless sales job with uncommon zeal (or admirable self-
awareness), even donning a white hospital coat and a name tag
proclaiming himself “Senator Albert Gore, Jr.: Spin Doctor.”17
Spin here connoted something slightly different from previous
synonyms. In that its practitioners acknowledged their words to be
less than fully straightforward, spin winked at its own stretching of
the truth. It signaled to the journalists who reported the spin, and to
the audiences who consumed it, that they were getting a partial,
perhaps insincere, version of events.
From a Platonic viewpoint, Spin Alley and the Spin Room are
absurd. “Every presidential election year,” wrote the journalist
Michael Kinsley, mystified, “thousands of journalists fly to strange
cities to sit in the overflow room and watch on TV the presidential
debates they could be watching on TV at home. They do it mainly in
order to be in another large room after the debate, where spinners
for the candidates recite lines written before the debate about how
their clients won the debate.” The very names of these holding pens
dispense with any pretense that the talking heads on view are
offering objective or even honest analysis. Reporters know they’re
getting a scripted, one-sided take yet compliantly pass on the spin
for the audience to sort out.18
From an Aristotelian viewpoint, however, there’s something
refreshing about the frank admission that what we’re watching is
spin, a duel of interpretation. It can actually be fun to watch. Many
of us enjoy (sometimes) the post-debate spin, applauding those who
give voice to our own sentiments, confident that we can see through
self-serving claims, curious to see how the rhetorical skirmish will
play out. We realize that spin is met with counterspin; that we are
not helpless in the face of clever arguments or slick ads (though we
may fear our neighbors are); that our knowledge and beliefs provide
ballast against being fooled. On this view, taking pleasure in spin
isn’t a cause for concern. It reflects our mindfulness that politics is
full of competing versions of events and ways of ordering reality.
Indeed, in a time of political disaffection like ours, audiences need to
find ways to enjoy politics, and while objective information is
indispensable for informed debate, the theatricality and
combativeness of spin are more likely to draw in citizens than are
antiseptic or Olympian statements that purport to tell citizens all
they need to know.19
Spin, moreover, isn’t the all-powerful force that, in our Platonic
moods, we may presume it to be. Events, more than messages and
images, largely determine who wins presidential campaigns or
battles for public opinion. Although presidents have many forums for
putting across their messages, they’re almost always met by
counterspin from the opposing party, Congress, or the press—
especially these days, with the rise of cable news, talk radio, and the
Internet. And public opinion is much more resistant to persuasion
than popular depictions typically suggest.20
Besides, just as rhetoric was an inherent part of ancient politics,
spin is a permanent part of ours. It’s hardly possible to imagine
politics without it. There is of course a “No-Spin Zone” on television
—but it is hosted by the highly opinionated and provocative
conservative pundit Bill O’Reilly. Even the ostensibly neutral “fact-
checking” features that news outlets have introduced to call out
politicians for misleading ads, false statements, or other
microdeceptions, though useful when explaining the source or
justification for a contested claim, often arrive at conclusions that
are based on subjective judgments and informed by ideological
predilections. Throughout history, spinners have invariably claimed
to be truthtellers who were simply dispelling falsehoods, while those
aiming to dispel falsehood have seldom resisted the temptation to
spin. Journalists and citizens should and do call out politicians when
they distort, exaggerate, or lie; we need public vigilance about spin
to keep politicians honest. In an aphorism usually attributed to
Daniel Patrick Moynihan (but first coined in slightly different form by
Bernard Baruch), everyone is entitled to his own opinion but not to
his own facts. Usually, though, determining which facts are relevant
or important is part of the challenge—and the disagreement. Instead
of trying somehow to banish spin from the kingdom of politics, we’d
be better off, like the pragmatic critics described in the pages ahead,
trying to inculcate a critical sense that helps us question and
evaluate spin—and maybe, just once in a while, to know when to
believe it.
In the end, a surfeit of partisan advocacy, or even a margin of
dissimulation in politics, is far less dangerous than the claim by a
powerful party, especially the government, to have a monopoly on
the truth. Walter Lippmann, one of the twentieth century’s
champions of disinterested expertise, warned against pursuing a
single, monolithic truth in politics because, he noted, such a posture
forecloses the debate of ideas and worldviews that a free society
requires. “In real life there is not, as there is in every jigsaw puzzle,
one picture and one picture only, into which all the pieces will
eventually fit,” he wrote. “It is the totalitarian mind which thinks that
there is one and only one picture.”21
It’s tempting to romanticize a politics that relies exclusively on
rational persuasion. But in politics rational argument has always
been commingled with emotional appeals and the partial or selective
presentations of evidence. If we want to allow for the fullest possible
extent of the former, we have to tolerate a great deal of the latter.
That means the candidate or party or position we prefer will
sometimes lose in the court of public opinion, or that the public will
sometimes be led to make bad policy choices. But if we’re engaged
in a debate that presumes no final verdict, no single authoritative
answer, we can lose and live to fight another day.
 PART I

THE AGE
OF PUBLICITY

Since ancient times, political leaders have used words and images to
win public favor and sustain their legitimacy. Yet by and large the
American presidents of the nineteenth century did not devote their
daily energies to mobilizing public opinion. It was Theodore
Roosevelt, more than any of his predecessors, who made it his
mission to enlist the citizenry behind his policy goals, turning the
presidency into the engine of social reform. Touring widely,
delivering speeches, convening informal press conferences, staging
publicity stunts, hiring press aides, and otherwise commanding
public attention, Roosevelt launched an Age of Publicity, in which
presidents and other politicians championed the disclosure of their
activities as a way to promote themselves and their goals. Woodrow
Wilson, building on Roosevelt’s foundations, articulated a belief
common among progressives that broad-minded leaders could,
through their leadership of public opinion, forge an enlightened
citizenry and a stronger democracy. Wilson added to the White
House’s publicity capacities, ushering in a host of historic reforms.
His project culminated in the wartime Committee on Public
Information, which veered uncomfortably into propaganda, feeding a
popular cynicism toward presidential efforts to guide public opinion—
a cynicism with which his successors would long have to contend.
 1

THEODORE ROOSEVELT
AND THE PUBLIC PRESIDENCY

WHEN PRESIDENT WILLIAM MCKINLEY led the United States to war

against Spain in the spring of 1898, the nation sprang into action,
and no one was keener to see battle than Theodore Roosevelt.1
Scion of an upper-crust New York family, the brash assistant Navy
secretary had, at thirty-nine, already built a reputation as a reformer
as a New York state assemblyman and as Gotham’s police
commissioner. Lately, from his perch in the Navy Department, he had
been planning, and agitating, for an all-out confrontation with the
dying Spanish Empire. He drew up schemes for deploying the
American fleet, which he had helped strengthen, in not only the
Caribbean, where Spain ruled a restive Cuba, but also the Pacific,
where it held the Philippines. After the deadly February explosion of
the USS Maine off Cuba’s shores, Roosevelt shared with journalists
his firm but mistaken conviction that the Spanish were to blame.
“Being a Jingo,” he wrote a friend, using the slang for war hawk, “I
would give anything if President McKinley would order the fleet to
Havana tomorrow.” Privately, he mocked his president, who was
trying to negotiate a solution: “McKinley is bent on peace, I fear.”2
In April, after some provocations, McKinley bowed to pressure
and opted for war. Roosevelt resolved not to validate the sneers of
his detractors that he was just playing at combat. “My power for
good, whatever it may be, would be gone if I didn’t try to live up to
Another Random Scribd Document
with Unrelated Content
 oMU lllsTiiltY OF OlUiUOiW. ;-f Tlio two fliildi'fii,
\vli()iM'(inm'(l the ])liiiiirt witli tliuir |iiiri'iits in ISolJ. uru Klliott .1.,
imw imfof tlic Ifiiiliiii^ l)ii(iiiii'st» int'ii of Siili'iri; and Miii'tim Ann, who
died in lier eiirliteenth year. Two ciiiidrt'ii were horn in Oreiron, Jmnes
l>,, now in linsinesn in Oregon City; mid Williiini II., who died in liis
nineteentli year. Mrs. Swatiord, the I'aitiifiii wil'e and devtited mother,
died Angiitit 14. ISSo. in tile midst of iiei' family and friends. She was
widely lopular with his pupils, as well as with their parents. Soon
after the close of IiIb school, in 184H(, he accepted a sclujlarship in
the State Normal School in Albany, X(>w York. After finishing his
course of study, he went to Jefferson county. New York, wdiere he
taught school and studied law as opj)ortuiiity offered and his
finances permitted, it was here that he first took an active part in
politics, liis blood being stirred by the cry, "Free soil, free speech,
freemen;'' and in that Presidential campaign, iu which he favored
Van Huron and Adams, lie gained the exjierience of public speaker,
which in after years made him such a j)ower on the side of the
Union in the State of ()regon. After the discovery of gold he came to
the coast in 1850, and located a donation land claim at the mouth of
the IJmpipia river, where the town of (iardiner is situated. In 1853
he volunteered iu the Kogue river Indian war, and was by the side of
Captain Stewart when the latter was shot. That same year he was
elected a meml)er of the Oretron Leijislature. In 1854 lie was
associated with Hon. T. F. Grover (since Governor and Senator) on a
commission to audit and report to the National (Trovernment the
spoliation claims of the settlors, arising out of the Kogue river war. In
1853 lie was appointed Code Commissioner, and a little later
Collector of Customs for Port Perpetua, afterward known as Port
LTmpqua. He resigned this position in 1857, and removed the next
year to Portland, where he formed a law partnership with Hon.
George H. Williams, late United States Senator and Attorney General
under the administration of President Grant. (xovernor Gibbs was a
member of the Legislature which elected Baker and Nesmith, bnt he
unfortunately supported his friend and partner, Mr. Williams. This lie
did not do for personal reasons alone, but because Mr. Williams' view
of the situation of National and State questions
 I I^ I iiiaruiiY uF ouKiiox. t)8T wa« more in acconlftiici! witli
hit* own vicnvrt tlmn itny otlicr eiiiMliiliUe. In tlic I'l'i'sidentiiil
tdectioii of IStJd li(! supporti'il Ddii^'lii:-, luit when the Iliiioii
Ut'|)iilili('im party wa.* foniii'd, Uy a oall made t)y tlic State (Jciitral
('oiniiiittee, lie was the first to ni^ii tlie call, lie was itoiiiiiiated by tiliB
party for Governor, and was elected. The vote of" that election
placed Orej^on on the Bide of the Union. Mr. (iil)l)s was elected
(Jovernor at tiie inont prccarions time in the history of the nation,
(ioveriior (tild)s was very ttrm in his executive measures to protect
the Union, and his life was constantly in
 aw UlsWHY oh' oHKdON. nUo uiiDtliur mill ami liiiiilii'r yui'(l
in North I'lll'tllllil, wilCIl" IIk'V lid lltl l'\tl'lll*ivt' Ullhilll'fH. 'i'lii'V Imvi'
iilsd II mill in tiic nioniitniiis, wln-rii llicy own two Hi'ctiiins nf jiine
hin;li intcirrity in all inii-int'^s trantiacliiMiH. Me. A. Nf|)|)acli lias
heen it intMiiliiT of the tii'in since lSM(, anil is ii iimn of extendeii
Imsiiiess experience and prohity of eiiariictei-, William Nicoliii, the
ellicient seeretai'y of the (;oin|iany, and also u siihstantial
8tockiiolder in the liiisiness, is thi' eldest son of Mr. fionis Nieolai, the
senior ineinher of the linn. The Nieolai ISrolliers are natives of
(terniaiiy, and accompanied their parents from tlie t'athurhind to
Anierii^i in 1853, e.onnn^ direct to Detroit, Miehijjan. Theodore, at
that time, was hilt three years of nj^e, while l.oiiis was thirteen.
They 'vere reared and educated in Wayne county, near iJetroit,
where they continued to reside until they euini' to the I'acitic eoH.t
in IMtiS. Tlieir venerateii father, John H. Nieolai. 8till survives, at the
advanced age of ninetyone yearH, and enjoys the esteem of all who
know him, hceaiise of his sterlini;
 i JUSTOUr (IF OHKlliKW. W» Intiii'H oil tlmt ti(;kut. lit*
Kurvvd one tunii bihI wim fdllowttil l)y lii« hod, Hurry A., wliu tilled
81'vuriil other ])(initii)!irt of lioimr iind triii*t in tliii eoniity. Air. I''o8ter
only lived to lie tit'tydix 3('uri* old, dying in 185(5, luit his wife lived
until 1IS74, when A\{i was seventy-two years ohl. Our Huhject wh»
the next to the yoiin^ent, and only three of the family of ten
eiiiidren now survive, the two bistern heing Mrt*. I'. N. Clifforil 11'"'
Mrs. SwHan F. Davin, hoth widows. lie rtv-eived his education at the
aeadeniiert of Morrirtt(jwn. Johnson and lierry, tinisiiinj^ his lust
(roursu at IJorry, at the a^e of twenty-ono years. For his life
profession he chose civil engineerini;, or surveyliiif, iitid in 1809 lie
went to CJuliforida. Until IfStiO he worked at mining in that Stdte,
then went to Portland, Oregon, where he found employment in the
Superintendent's otlice of Indian AlTairs, under Edward U. (Jrey,
Superintendent. Mr. Foster renniined there one jeur, uml in the fall of
ISt'd he Went to the I'"lorence mines in Maho and remained tiiere,
engaj;ed in niininij, until 18i)2. Having made considerulile money he
then went to Auliurri, liaker county, and worked in the mines until
18()3. Ahout this time the Indians gave him a great deal of troiil)le
and stole a whole herd of horses that he had purchased. In 18t)4:
he was elected (lounty Clerk of Haker county and also acted as
County Superintendent of common schools, and after serving two
years was appointed Deputy I'liited States Surveyor and also Deputy
I'nited States Marshal, lie has also held the office of ('ounty Surveyor
for twenty years, and served as (councilman of Haker City tor six
years, hut for the last twentytwo years he has given his entire
attention to his business of surveying and engineering. Mr. Foster is
now interested in the |)lacer iidne, which is yielding a very good
return. During his long residence on the coast he has made and lost
money, as all miners have, hut now is in comfortable circumstances
and owns a nice little home in the beautitul little city of Baker. He
was one of the first men to enter Haker county, there being l)Ut six
in en ahead of hirn who dis. covered the mines. In politics he is a
straight Republican, having cast his first vote for John 0. Fremont,
since which time he has voted on that same line. Mr. Foster was
married in 1869, to Alice E. Eriand, born in 184:9, in Pennsylvania,
but she died in 1877, at the age of twenty-six years, lenviiiif two
nliildron, Harry hikI Linn. In 188-1- Mr. Foster nnirrievliere ho lived
and worked on u farm until he was twenty-one years of age. At this
time Mr. 11 uelat entered the Portland Hnsiness (^(jUege, from
which he graduated in 1887, soon after securing a position as
bookkeeper with a tirm in Pendleton, where he renniined three
months, when he went into an express otHce for a short time, after
which he secured a position at Adams, llniutilla county, as
bookkeeper in a general merchandise store. He proved hiinself so
reliable that soon he was given sole chaige of the business, and
wi:"n the business was sold out to a Mr. Marston and the store was
removed to Pendleton, our snly'ect was continued in the employ of
the new firm. Here it was called the Chicago Store, and later our
subject was takei' in as a partner, when a part of the rtock was taken
to La (iraiide. On March 30, 1891, this store was burned, but was
insured for more than enough to pay all claims after the tire. He
succeeded in buying out the interest of Mr, Marston and took in as
partner D. II. Starbird, Mr. Ilnelai ,till acting as manager. They
continued in business this way until February. 1892, when they
incorporated a joint company, with G. W. Webb as president; W. T.
Slater as treasurer; A. H. lluelat as secretary and manager, and D. II.
Starbird as one director. The company now consists of Welib, Slater,
lluelat and Starbird, under Mr. Huelat's management and coi.trol the
business has grown to be one of the lagest dry goods inter 
 800 HISTORY Oh- OliKGOiW ests ill eastern (Jregoii,
eaiTyiiig u stock of 8(!0,()()0 and doing a l)usinus8 of ^100,000.
Tliuy carry a full line of dry goods;, ciothini;, gents' fiiriiisiiini^s,
boots ami sluws. Mr. lluelat was married in 1888, Deceinlier 25, to
Miss Rose B. Huston. dauf,'litor of Walterlluston, of Linn county, born
in 1805. Although Mr. lluelat was thrown on the world when a small
boy and left to the mercy of the charitable, ho ha.s worked iiis way
unaided, until he is now regarded as one of the best business men
of this part of the State and is a true ty]»e of u selt-made man.
Politically, he is a Ueinocrat, and is a member of the K. of P. Mr. and
Mrs. lluelat have two sons, of whom they are justly primd. ll^MOS N.
KING, a widely p-d favorably }lE^ kiu^wn Oregon pioneer of 184:5,
and a *|^j,!osperous citizen of Portland, was born in Franklin county,
Ohio, April 30, 1822. His father, Natlian King, married Saraii Norton,
of New York, and tliey had ten children, six daughters aiul four sons,
live children still surviving. The subject of our sketch was the si.\th
child and was reared on his father's farm, lie attended the public
schools and learned the tanner's trade. In 18-10 he moved t(j
Missouri, where he was engaged in running a ferry across the
Missouri river, when a great flood destroyed his property. In 18i5 he
accompanied his parents, three brothers anil tive sisters, who joined
a company of 100 wagons, and started across the plaii;s for Oregon.
They started early in Vay ami ;net with many trials and misfortunes
on the way. A brother and his wife died of mountain fever and they
were sorrowfully buried l)y the way.-ido. The distressing experiences
of that long journey have never been effaced from their memory,
and probably no amount of money could imluce them to repeat it.
However, their experience was that of thousanils and it was thus the
West was settled and develope
 aitirouY OF oHEOoy. 391 tile city Kiid its BuiToiiiulings since
the time vvlieii it tirst greeted tlie view of tlie now iigeil pioneer. It
was tlien scarcely reclajineel from tlie rule of tlie aborigines. Indeed,
the lonely forests and beuutifid and wild streams were only distiirhed
by the note of some forest bird, or the streams riitHed by the ripple
of some Indian's canoe and the dip of his paddle. Now magniliceiit
steamers plow tiiose waters, bearing on their decks liiindreds of
people, while noisy mamil'actories destroy the silence of the
otherwise peaceful surroundings. A proud city, the metropolis of a
magiiiticeut State, has grown up in the midst, great in commerce,
education, science and i rts, second in size, perhaps, to a few older
municipalities, but in siibstaiitiul growth and civilization proudly
elialleiiging the ;,om|ietitioti of the world. Ill 1S4:() Mr. King was
married to Miss MaHilda Fuller, an estimable lady, and a native of
Ohio. They have had six diildren, four now living. In 1887 the family
were called upon to part from the devoted wife and mother, who fur
forty-one years liati thouglit of nothing but their welfare. She was a
woman of rare sensibility, and her life was the practical e.xpression
of tiie noblest Christian virtues, to which she gave the added charm
of a naturally loving heart. The eldest son, N. A. King, is a wealthy
rancher it' Lake county, where he owns 5,000 acres of clioice land,
on which he is raising horses. One of the daughters, now Mrs. Nan
tillrt A. Jeffrey, resides in a handsome residence near her father. T!ie
other daughter is now Mrs. A. iumsden, also a wealtiiy resident of
Portland. The younger son, Edward A.. King, who lives with his
father and assumes lull charge of cheir extensive real estate and
linancial atl'airs, > "as born in Portland, March 30, 18G1, and was
reared and educated in his native city, lie married Miss AniiH Brewer,
in 1880, a liighly esteemed lady and a native of Micliigan. They have
two eliildren, both born in the metropolis, William A. and Lulu L. Mr
Kdward King has for several years been the efficient treasurer of the
Multnomah Street ''ailway. He is now clerk of the Hoard of Bridge
(^omniissioners, to which otHce he was appointed by the Circuit
Clourt Judge. He is a good specimen oitiie young business men
produced by tliis great State, which grows nothing small nor
insignilicant. He belongs to the 1. O. O. I'", and also to the Knights
of Pythias. He and his father are Democratic in politics. Thus is given
the most important facts of the life of one of t)regon'8 most eminent
pioneers, who unaided has acquired wealth and prominence, all of
which has been accomplished by the most iionorable methods and
with the full approval of his fellow-men. "^■% ri:y :>>-^3^' ^'OllN
A. TllAVEK, a jirosjierous and afil '''8'''y '^''teemed business man of
Oregon "S]^ City, and an honored veteran of the great civil war, was
born in Williams county, Ohio, October 22, 1843. His father, Hiram
Thayer, was born in New Vork State, in 1812. He was a farmer, and
moved in later years to Illinois, thence to Wisconsin, aiid still later lo
Michigan, lorating on a farm in Grand Traverse county, of the hitter
State, on which he resided uiiti' liis death, which occurred in 18lj5.
He was a' man of unswerving integrity and great industry and was
uniformly kind, thus gaining the esteem of all who knew him, who
sincerely lamented his death. The faithful wife and devoted mother
still survive and resides in Michigan, being now in her eigUty-tirst
year. She is a woman of sterling (pialities of mind and heart, and
greatly beloved by tlicse who know her. This worthy cou[)le had
seven children, all living l)ut one. Their son, the subject of our
sketch, was raised on his father's farm, attending school in winter,
and working hard in the summer. This continued until the call for
volunteers in 18(32, to put down the slaveholders" rebellion, when
he enlisted, in September, 1862, with the boys in blue, in (/ompany
A, Twenty-sixth Michigan Volunteers Infantry. This regiment acquired
a good, record in the service, losing in battles and by sickness one-
quarter of their number. Mr. lliayer participated with them in
twentynine hard-fought battles, in most of which they were
victorious, the following being a list of the engagements; Suffolk,
Virginia; Windsor, Virginia; (yorbiii's Hridge; York iiiver; Po River,
Vii'ginia; Spottsylvania. Virginia; North Anna; Tolopotomy, Virginia;
Cold Harbor; Petersburg; Weldoii Railroad; Deep P)ottom ;
Strawberry J'lains; White Oak Swain|); River Station; Peebles l''arm;
Hatcher's Run; Roydton Road; White Oak Road; Sutherland's
Station;
 fflii aoa UlsroitY OF OHKOON. Amelia Springs; Deatonsville;
Sailor's Creek; llii^h liridf^i-; Furmerville; Apjioiiiattox Court House;
Siege of I'etursliurj;. Tlie war then ended, and his regiiTieiit
nartieipated in the grand review of the victorious I'nion Artny Before
they hft Michigan tliey were presented with a beautiful tlag, wliich
they carried triumphantly tliroua;h all tiie war. It lieciinie very much
tattered iiy shot and shell, hut it waved over tiic men at the review,
and they brought it home with them, and it now rests in the archives
of the Government at the State capital. In front of this regiment, at
the l)attle of Spottsylvania, stood a tree, the trunk of which was
twenty-one inches in diameter. So terrific was the tire at this point,
that the tree was stripped of its foliage, and was actually cut down
hy minie balls, a portion of it falling on the men, and injuring several
of them. This seems like an exaggeration, but it is fully
authenticated by men who saw it, and the circumstance has passed
into the " History of Michigan in the War." After receiving an
honorable discharge, Mr. Thayer returned to his home in Michigan,
where he engaged in farming, wliich lie continued until 1873. lie
then came to Oregon (Jity, locating on a half section of land four
miles east of the city, '"bich he industriously cultivated, and on "•' '
"I; I. "'lade valuable improvements, in I" '.■■,■ . r r' '(ing substantial
farm buildings, b ';o Miortrtbl ,' residence and good barns for his
grain ■ ; otock, besides other improvements, all tenoing tofacilitnte
the producing and handling of farm products. This is tiow one of the
ehoicests farms in the country. Of late years he has been engaged in
buying and selling real estate, now being a member of the firm of
Thayer iVs Alden, who are doing a large real-eslate and insurance
business, representing several of the best companies in all the
branches of insurance. Their specialty in real estate is farm
propert}', but they also handle town proi)erty. Ihoy are very
successful in their business, and are probably as well informed on
land values as any j)erson in the Northwest. In 1877 Mr. Thayer was
married to Nfiss Lucinda K. Mcfarland, a highly esteemed lady, and a
native of Illinois. They have two children, both born in Oregon,
namely: Mabel and liJuel, who are intelligent and active, and bid fair
to reflect great credit on the noble State of their nativity. Mr. Thayer
is a Ilepnblioan in politics, and :t worthy member of Meade Post. No.
2, (4. A. li. He and his worthy wife are consistent members of the
I'aptist Church, to which they render much valued assistance. Thus
is briefly given the few most important facts of a complete and busy
life, ;nany days of which was most worthily spent in the cause of
suffering humanity and freedom, and whosii influence has always
been throwi in the scale of right and the uplifting of his fellow-men.
fOSEIMI miCHTEL.one of the very worthy pioneers of Oregon, was
born in Stark county, Ohio, in Uniontown, November 22, 1880. Mis
father, Michael JJnchtel, was a native of the same county and of
German ancestry who settled in Berks county, Pennsylvania, in the
early day of that section. His father married Miss Mary Harvey, the
daughter of Job Harvey, a native of Pennsylvania and of English
ancestry. Of their four children only two are now living. Mr. Biiciitel
and a brother. The father died in 1841, leaving a wife and three
children. Upon ilr. Buchtel, the suliject of this sketch, devolved the
care of his niothcr and the other children, and inost faithfully did he
endeavor to perform the sacred trust. Previousto his father's death
the family had removed to IJrbana, Champaign county. Illinois, and
for two years, up to the time of his death, the father was engaged in
the manufacture of shingles. As he grew up young Buchtel flrst
worked for four years at tiie tailor's trade, but it was not congenial to
him, and he was employed some in farming, clerking in a store, anil
later held the oflice of Deputy Sheri"' of Chuinpaign county; and
while acting in that capacity he had frequent occasion to meet both
.Vbi'aham Lincoln and Stei>hen A. Douglas, as Urbana, his town,
was at difl'erent times in their circuit. On April 2;3, 1852, Mr. Buchtel
started upon the long and perilous journey across the plains and
mountains to Oregon, in the compaisy i' Mr. I. Iv. .Moores, who was
ai,orwa;r ;• xiost worthy pioneer of this State. Mr. inichtel'-:, part in
the journey was to drive oi o of llumc large o.\ teams employed in
hauling a heavily loaded emigrant wagon. The journey lasted six
months and was full of incident. They
 \ lUtiTOUY OF OliEOON. were harassed liy tim Iiulians, atid
near tlic end. of the trip were short of provisions. Wlien they reaciiiid
Fort Boise, Colonel Moore* called for volunteers to go ahead and
save eatahies, and Mr. liuelitel, with si.\ otliers, took a small amoimt
of food and canie on in advance of the Company. Two days before
they readied the Diiiles they were entirely without food, were worn
out and almost starved to death. Three of the men, inclndini; Mr.
Hnchtel, reached the Dalles Septemlier 3. Four of the number had
given out, heeoming niuihle to keep up. Mr. Bnclitel had given every
cent of his money and tlie ifreater portion of his food to his comrade,
Nate Therman, who was sick and unable to proceed; later he
recovered and came on through. Mr. I'uchtel completed the journey
in !' destitute condition, reaching Portland in September, 1852, weak
from hunger and fatigue and destitute of funds with which to buy
bread. Oiu! of the |)arty had saved 82, and with that they subsisted
until Mr. Buchtel succeeded in getting work. He met a man on
horseback, to whom he appealed for work. It proved to be Colonel
Backenstos. After some |)ersuasion of an urgent nature the Colonel
permitted him to cut a patch of oats with a scythe. The oats were
heavy and lodged, but Mr. Buchtel, weak and unable to labor as he
was, succeeded in getting the oats down and raked up in five days;
and, notwithstanding the work was not worth it, the Colonel ma
 394 HISTORY OF OREaON. tliree; Joe, who dieil at tlio mcto
ot' seven j'eai's; Frank, Archie, Fred; Lillie, who is the wife of
Norwood L. Curry, eon of tiie late (lovernor (■reorge i^. (hirr}'; and
addie who married W. G. Kerns of the Dalles. 'I'he two sons are
reiialile young business men, and the ^'-ut'tfest isattending school.
'UOMAS W. SUl.LIVAN does not, like Ajax, defy the lightning, but
rather controls it, in his position as chief enginter ami drauijhtsnian
of the Portland General Klectric Gonipany, designinj^ and
constructiiij; the plants as he does for developing the great power of
tiie Willamette falls at Oregon City, G egon, by means of which the
electric current generates after being transmitted on aerial wires a
distance of tiiirtecii miles to Portland, makes resplendent with electric
light the i)eautiful metropolis of Oregon, as well as supplying her
varied industries with economical power. He is a native of Ireland,
and was born in Tralee, Kerry county, January 1, 1802. His parents
were Florance and Elizabeth (Talbot) Sullivan, who came to the
Unitiid States, in 1S()3, when the subject of this sketch was one year
and four months of age. They resided in New ^'(jrkcity a year, when
they removed to Rome, Oneida county, where their son was reared
and educated. He then went to Oswego, Oswego county, where he
began to learn the trade of a machinist. It was while in this city thitt
his attention was turned to mechanical draughting, for which he
discovered he had a special talent. While engaged in this work and
just previous to attaining his majority, he was placed in charge of tiie
draughting department of the Home, Watertown and Ogdeiisbnrg
Hailway Syi^tem, which important position lie retained for two
years, when he was transferred to the civil engineering department
fif the same (•■mi [)any, servi!ig as assistant engineer for three
years. He then took charge of public work on his own account, which
resulted in his i-oming to Oregon, where he arrived March 27, 1889,
in the interest of the Willamette Pnlj) and Paper (Jomjiany, for the
purpose of planning and superintending the construction of their
large •works at Oregon (Mty. After com|)leting their mills, he
accepted the position of coiistriicting engineer for the Willamette
Transportation and Locks Company, ami when this company was
merged into the Willamette Falls Electric ComEany, and afterward
into the Portlanil General llectric Company, he continued in the same
position. This new company lias ?!5,(K)0,UO() capital, and is
destined to liecomeone of the greatest enterprises in the country.
Immediately on locating in Oregon City, Mr. Sullivan began to take
an active interest in all tlie affairs of the city, and was one of the
organizers of the (Catholic Knights of America, Branch No. 647. At
the time of its incorporation, he was elected its President, which
position he has e^'l.nently tilled. He also became a member of the
Hoard of Trade, and by this means id lending his aid to the
improvement and development; of the city. He was married in
Oswego, Now York, in 18S5, to Miss ^I. Jennie Wafter, an estimable
lady, and a native of that State. They have three children: Florance
F., George H and Sadie M. Mr. Sullivan is a Hepulilican in politics, and
in the spring of 1891 was elected Mayor of Oregon City, in which
capacity he is now serving. Intelligent, progressive, independent and
liberal he works for thi; iiest interests of the municipality which has
honored liim with its leadership. He is a worthy meinl)er of St. John's
(Catholic (Church, which was the first house of worship ever erected
in Oregon, and was formerly the Cathedral of this denomination. It is
of peculiar int(^rest to ])ioneers heciiuse a greatly beloved and
revered member of that society, Dr. John Mcliaughlin is buried near
it. lie was one of the earliest settlers of the Northwest, and is widely
known throughout the country as a truly philanthropic and kind-
hearted man, his deeds of kinrlness being deeply impressed on
many loving hearts. Mr. Sullivan is a young man, much younger than
his reputation and ability would load one to suspect, which is due to
natural precociousness and the necessity in early life of exercising
his ability and energy. He has many years of u^efulness before him,
which, judging from the past, will leave nothing to he desired in the
power of Dame Fortune to bestow. % I *". jfvii^;-^, fc(« (ijh'-jia^
W4 (^ i2^!\J^f^c/.
 HISTOUr OF OltKUOS. ;ii»r. : 1 IJ. I A M S A U G K N T LA
DD, tlie |)ioiieer, tlie [jroininenf liiiiikcr, the libtTiil luid enterprit^iiij;
citizen, and tlie Clu'iflian pliiiiiiifliropist, wiiose lite financially was
euinniensurate with tlie ijrowtli of the great eoininiinwealtli, of which
he was an honored and illustrious citizen, was born in the town of
Holland, Vermont, October 10, 1826. His father, Nathaniel (ioiild
Ladd, a physician, whs a descendant of a family who came to
America in 1033. He married Miss Abigail Kelley Meail. a native of
New Hampshire. They moved to the villaije of Meredith, in New
Hampshire, in 1830. and in 1833 to Sanbornton I'ridge, now known
as Tiltoii. Religionsly they were Afethodists. Up to his fifteenth year
young Ladd was sent to sclioni, and then began in earnest to apply
himself to manual labor ae a farm hand on a neighbor's lanil. Later
his father bought for him tifteen acres of land, niugh, rocky and
wooded, which our subject cleaieil and brought under cultivation.
When nineteen years of age he taught adistrict school, which had
had the reputation of being the roughest in the region, battles
between teacher and pupils having been frequent. However, xMr.
Ladd was successful in bubdning the refractory pupils at the first
encounter, and establishing order, and kept his pupils interested by
introducing
 U»(i insToiCr OH" oheoon. lie \vft» also itli'iititit'cl with wliat
is now tlie Oivcron Iriu\ imd Stuci ("miipiuiy at Oswcjin, and was a
K'adiiiff stockiioiiicr of tlic Oregon Railway and N'aviiration Company.
I'msides these interests he was one of the largest property holders
in Portland and vieinity, his possessions coinprisi.ig many acres in
valuable city hmd, and a large mini her of business and r«'sidence
buildings. lie had the honor of erecting tlie first brick building in the
city. His interest in school matters and ])nbli(' education extended
over a long time and was continuous, lie having been ainoiigUhe lirst
to serve as School Director. lie was a friend of churclies and jiubiic
eiiarities, to which his gifts were muniticent. lie enilowed the cliairs
of Practical Theology in the Presbyterian Theological Seminary at
San Francisco in 188(i, witii §50.000, and gave several scholarships
to the Willamette University. Tlirongiiout a wide extent of country
few chiirciu'S were built without aid from bim. The Library
Association of Portland always felt his fostering care. For twenty
years it has occupied the second floor of his bank bnildiiii;. on the
corner of First and Stark streets, free of charge. It was Mr. Ladd's
custom from the first to set aside one-tenth of his net income for
charitable and philanthropic jnirposes, jilacing it as a gift apart from
other funds. It is said that an appeal for siiil'erers, if worthy, was
never refused fiy him, nor by any member of his family; and in fact
he was the iiuiniiicent leader of subscription lists for all worthy
objects and public enterprises. During the last war Mr. Ladd was a
"War Democrat," since which time he exercised the right of voting
his own ticket, altliough in national matters he voted of late years
with the Rt-'dnblicans. He, at one time, held the office of Mayor of
his city, but jiersit-tently refused uominations tendered him, and
declined to enter the arena of political strife, so distasteful to him.
While he was easily the master of his place, he was nevertheless a
friend and favorite with his workingmen and emjiloyes. lie believed
in liberality toward all who worked, and also that their rights and
liberties should be respected and denounced the ini(|uity of
combinations of capital which sought to deprive trade or labor of its
freeilom. These qualities placed him nearer to the hearts of the
people than most men of wealth, and he sutfered as little from envy
as any rich man in the nation. Such is but a brief outline of the
history of a man whose active and enterprising spirit, sound business
sairacity, oiien-banded liln'rality and pronounced (Christian character
contributed largely to moid the character of a growing city, and to
lay deep and broad the commercial honor, political virtue and sound
principleo of our young commonwealth. In 1854 Mr. I-add was
married to Miss Caroline A. Elliott, a native of New Hampshire, a lady
with whom he had been acquainted since their school days. To her
lie ascribed a great portion of his success, saying, " 1 owe
everything to her, as she has been to me most emphatically a
helpmate in the best and highest sense, a noiile wife, a saintly
mother to our children, always patient, thoughtful and conraceons,
she cheerfully assumed her part of whatever load I have had to
carry. We both started together at bedrock, and from then until now
we have taken every step in harmony." Their eldest son, Williaii! M
Ladd, for several years etficiently aided his father in the
tnanagenient of his largely increased Inisiness. He is an alumnus of
Amherst ('ollegf, and, since the retirement of Mr. Tiltori, had been a
partner in the bank. The second son, Charles Elliott, is at the head of
the large lloiiring business, which his father in a large part created,
anti controlled. The eldest daughter is the wife of Henry J. Corbett, a
son of Senator Henry W. Corbett. The second daughter is the wife of
Charles Pratt, of Brooklyn, New York, who has large interests in the
Standard Oil Company. Subjoined is a copy of the resolutions passed
by the I'ioneer Association on the death of Mr. Ladd, which evidence
the affectionate regard in which lie was held by his contemporaries:
"At a special meeting of the Oregon Pioneer Association yesterda
ymorning the following, which was presented by a committee,
consisting of Frank Dekuin, 11. K. Ilines, T. A. Wood, J. C. Carson
and James H. McMillen, was adopted : "WILLIAM SAKOKNT LADI). "
In MevKiriam. " The Oregon I'ioneer Society is met to-day in special
session for the discharge of a duty so tender and touching to the
hearts of its mem hers that words are inadequate to the suitable
e.x|)ression of their emotions. So rapidly and ruthlessly, for the last
few months, has death been claiming the most venerable and the
most
 niHroRY I IF DllBdON. •A)-, illiii^ri'ioiis of thoHO who l>oi"e
with ii8 the huri\v.\\i 1111(1 8triiggh;s of the roiil jjioneer epocli of
Orci^oii, that our rapidly (liiniiiishing niiinliorrt ailiiiniiish us that the
last of the uohle cDiniiutiionship that reclaimed the Territory of our
now jrreat and splendid State from the unhistoried liarharism of its
shadowed aj^es will soon lie beneath the soil of that State, whose
very existence is the moiuiiiient of their manly prowess and their
iutelliijeiit statesmanship. While it is always nobly fitting that the
builder should rest at the base of the temple lie built, and the
statesman should find his nionuineut in the institutions and
prosperity of the State, his genius formed and his ])atriotisin
endowed, still to those who remain among the wearied toilers there
is an inexpressible pathos in bearing their coiiipuuions in a foretime
toil to their last restinu;place and biihiing them adieu. We linger over
their memory with brotherly affection and dread to say the word that
recognizes their final departure from us. " This society of pioneers of
Oregon never was called, and never can be called hereafter, to a
sorer bereavement than that which has fallen upon our hearts at this
time. William Sargent Ladcl, a beloved member of our society, and
its honored and revered president, passed away from earth at his
home in this city, on the Oth day of January, 1893, at the age of
sixty-six years. lie was a pioneer of 1851, coming to this place when
but twenty-five years of age. No more active and powerful and
resourceful personality ever entered Oregon than was this pio neer.
No individual character ever more fully apprehended and embodied
the genious and possibilities of the Oregon that was to be than did
he. None ever did more than he to enshrine that genius and mold
those iiossibilities into actual, social, intellectual, material and even
personal creations. He was great in the greatest forms of organizing
and controlling force, and ill this he was, perpaps, the best
representative of the true pioneer spirit that has appeared among
us. As such the society speaks of him and of his work with ns and
for ns. and with and for the State whose prosperity and greatness
we all have lived, witii gratitiule and reverence. Because this spirit
was in him, and in such abounding measure, he rose in Oregon from
empty-handed toil to abounding wealth, maintaining unto the close
of his life among us the simple, unostentatious, kindly, yet brave and
vs eniluring spirit of the pioneer, through his gieat far reaching and
historic life. "This society of the pioneers of Oregon expresses to-
day, by the adoption of this brief tribute to the memory of our
beloved and revered president, our tender apjireciation of hiin
personally, and our large and grateful estimate of his services us one
of our member, and especially in his oftice as onr |)resiclent at the
time of his death. The tenderness and consideration with which he
always greated the pioneers, which grew more and more noticeable
as their number diminisheil, and the generosity with which he was
always ready to respond to the needs and purpuses of this society,
can never be forgotten by ns. "On this day of his burial we join our
fellowcitizens of Portland and of all the State in their expressions of
appreciation of him as a man and a citizen of high character and
abounding ])iitriotism. We also unite with the great church of which
he had been so long an honored member in its lofty estimate of the
place he filled and the work ho di
 ;iOs lirsTORY OF UllKaON. SiimiiuU Willi It I'oston iiierclmiit,
iiiid wluni IiIk hoii was lioni lu! WHS .--till in \\n; iMisiness, hut liitiT
iiiovL'd to a fm-iii and eomitry seat on the Delaware. The hitter part
of his lifu was s])ent in retirunient. His m>resi(led over hy Hev.
IJoyd lireek. LL. !>., of the HpisC(>])al C!hnrch. lie continued to
reside in Wis•cinsin after he Knislied his course, part of the time lis
fanner, and then came to as6engers and crew were lost. Mr. Breck
was cured of a desire to go to seaatter this. Mr. Aspinwall, president
of the steamship line, was liis brother-in-law. and he ap|)ointed him
agent of the company at I'ortlanil. He continued until they sold to
Ilididay and Flint, and Mr. Ih-eck continued with the new company
for a time. Afterward he engaged in the mercantile business again,
and retailed general merchandise, in which he C(nitiniied until lS7i}.
He then went to California and was engaged for tour years ai
IVtiilnma. After this he returned to I'ortland and was a salesman for
twelve years in the stiire of Meit^r & Kriiiik. Since then he has been
in the money broker business. Ho was married in 18i)4, to Miss
Anriio Ashmead, of Lanciu-ter county. I'ennsylvani i. They have had
five children: Annie A., John M., William A., Catherine 11. and
(ieorj;e. The eldest and the youngest are the only survivors of the
ciiildren. Mr. Breck has Iwen a Itepuhlican since the organization of
that party, and in 18()1 had tlie honor of being elected Mayor of
i'ortland. He has several times been a Councilman, and also County
Clerk and butli(?ity and County Assessor, lie has tilled all the
positions that he has been elected to, with honor to himself and the
good of his city and county. In 1855 Mr. Breck purchased a lot
opposite the post office, where they had a small home and and lived
for irany years, until 181)0, when Mrs. Breck sold it for ;i8"0,000.
They then purchased a lot on the corner of Corhett and Thomas
streets, where they have built a commodious house. It is in a
beautiful locality, commanding a view of the country. The two
somewhat aged pioneers of Oregon arehere spending the evening of
their well spent "life, respectecl and admired by all wiio know them.
|;mOBERT I). WILS«)N, a reputable business C man of Oregon City,
and the senior mein\ her of the hardware firm of Wilson & Cooke, is
a native of Canada, where he was born February 2, 1849. His father,
George B. Wilson, was born in P'.dinburg, Scotland, in 1806. He was
married there and in 1832 emigrated with his young wife to Canada.
He purcliased u farm in what was then the wilds of Canada, which
he industriously cultivated and improved, and on which he still
resides. His chihlren were raised there, of whom there were eight,
seven now surviving.
 lllfiTOJli OF OIIKdON. 'I'lie 8ul)ji)ct of our skftcli was the
fil'tli cliild mill wiie raised oil liin t'atlicr'n farm and attciidtMl iliii
('(iiinfy scliool. Upon attaiiiiiij; tnanliood lie learned the iiiillerti' trade,
which he has folIowimI for twcnty-tive yearn in varionn places. :.i
Canada, Washinj^ton and Ore^^oii. He saved his means, and hnilt
n mill at Dallas, in I'olk connty, whicli had not heen in opertion more
than six months, when it was totally consumed hy tire, ami he time
lust in an hour the aecumulationH of a litetime. Mr. Wilson, however,
is thoroughly American, in that ho does not waste time in uselesa
regrets. He at once resuiried work for wages ill the Salem Flouring
Mills, where he eontiiiued tor five years, alter which he went to
I'endletoii, where he worked (or three years, then comiiiir to Orifron
City, where he opened his [)resent hardware store. Tliis enttirprise
has so far lieeii very successful, exceeding Mr. Wilson's fondest
expectations, and on Feliruary 2S, 1H91. his liardware store was
biirneil, which diil not daunt liiin, and in one month from the time of
his loss he was in business on the same ground in a now and better
building than iiefore, i)eiiig built of corrugated iron. Owing to Ins
lil)eral methods ill business and thorough reliability he has secured a
large trade of the best class of citizens, not alone of the city, but
from the surrounding country for miles away. He was married in
1870, to Miss Hattie Hughes, a native of Missouri, and a daughter of
Samuel Hughes, a highly esteemed Oregon pioneer. They have one
child, (Jharles U. W., now in his fifteenth year, an intelligent youth,
who reflects credit on his native State. Mr. Wilson is a liepnblican in
politics, and socially belongs to the Knights of Pythias. What is more
essential than all, however, is the excellent reputation which he
Injars throughout the State where he is known, or has ever worked.
Scrupulously honorable, of thorough integrity, correct morals,
industrious, progressive and courteous, he is calculated to achieve
successs anywhere, or in any calling. He has the universal good-will
of his fellow-men, who sincerely rejoice in his deserved prosperity.
:^^c-B-^ IS nmont; ILLIAM M. PATTERSON the many good men
who, during the civil war fought in defense of the old flag. IJe is now
a respected and siiecessful hortieiiltiiri-t, living on his own fruit farm
near Mount 'i'alior. lie was liorn in llliiniis, in 1H25. His father, Myron
Patterson, was a iiati'.eof Albany, New York. The family origiiihted in
Scotland, aixl came to this country before the lievolulion, and several
(d' Mr. Patterson's ancestors fought in the Ktivoliitionary war. His
father married Miss Catherine Dorseii, of Long Island, and the
daughter of a sea captain. Tliey liail live cbildreii, and William was
the seeond child and only son. Kour of the family are still living, two
in (Jbieago, one ill Tacoma, and ,\[r. I'atterson himself. The family
removed to Wisi'onsin wliijii he was yet a child, and when he beiMiiie
old enough he Worked in the lead mines, where he was imigaged
when the civil war broki! out. lie enlisted in the spring of lSf')2, in
Company II, Twenty-fifth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. He was sent
to the Mississippi river, and was a particijiant in the tightingdoiie by
the Sixteenth Army corps, at the battle of .lackson and the siege of
Vicksbiirg, and was in a charge made upon one of the rebel forts. It
was first ex))lod(Hl and then they rushed in and took possession of
the fort. He was with (ieneial Sherman in his inarch to the sea and
with him in all the battles of that famous campaign, including the
battle of Atlanta. From Ceorgia he came to Washington and partici
pateil in the grand review in the streets of that capitol that their
valor had preserved. Mr. Patterson had been twice wounded. onc
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