Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs Release of Foreign Relations of the United States, 1917-1972, Volume VII, Public Diplomacy, 1964-1968

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Media Note

Office of the Spokesperson

Washington, DC

December 7, 2018

The Department of State released today Foreign Relations of the United States, 1917–1972, Volume ­VII, Public Diplomacy [JB emphasis], 1964–1968.

This volume documents the efforts of the Lyndon B. Johnson administration to craft public diplomacy and information policy during the middle period of the Cold War. A major emphasis is on the various ways the United States Information Agency (USIA) presented U.S. foreign policy objectives to global audiences during a time of great social upheaval within the United States, particularly during the Civil Rights movement. It also describes how the Johnson administration ensured both USIA and the Department of State utilized a variety of public diplomacy tools in the face of numerous crises that defined the 1960s. These crises included the assassination of John F. Kennedy and transition to the Johnson administration, the Dominican Republic intervention, the ongoing nuclear test-ban treaty negotiations, the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, and, most significant, the Vietnam war, which was a dominant focus through Johnson’s presidency. Additional documentation chronicles the Johnson administration’s attempts to reassure the world of U.S. stability following Kennedy’s death, to promote a domestic policy during a period of tumult and great cultural change, and to advance the Department of State’s educational exchange activities, particularly with the Soviet Union and the developing world.

This volume was compiled and edited by Charles V. Hawley. The volume and this press release are available exclusively on the Office of the Historian website at https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1917-72PubDipv07. For further information, contact history@state.gov.