49. Editorial Note
In a November 20, 1969, memorandum to President Richard M. Nixon, Acting Director of the United States Information Agency (USIA) Henry Loomis outlined the support the United States Information Agency had provided for the President’s November 3 speech on Vietnam. The memorandum, a copy of which was sent to Secretary of State William Rogers, responded to the November 14 request that Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs Henry Kissinger had made to USIA Director Frank J. Shakespeare. (See Document 45.) Loomis stated that USIA “used the full resources of the Information Agency in disseminating the November 3 speech on Viet-Nam.” He indicated that the speech had been broadcast live on the Voice of America (VOA) English service, with simultaneous translations in Chinese, Spanish, and French. The address was later broadcast in Vietnamese. In addition, kinescopes were sent to posts for local television placement. Loomis stated that USIA had provided a “steady output of information materials” following the speech. Loomis concluded the memorandum by noting: “We have just sent to 103 countries a 15-minute television program entitled ‘The Silent Majority,’ which effectively supports one of the principal points made in your November 3 speech. This film has aroused considerable press and television interest in the U.S. in the past few days.” (National Archives, RG 306, USIA Historical Collection, Subject Files, 1953–2000, Entry A1–1066, Box 7, Relations With White House, 1968–1969)
The previous day, the Washington Post printed an article by Chicago Daily News Reporter Robert Gruenberg, referencing the television film, entitled The Silent Majority. Gruenberg wrote that the film had “originated in the United States Information Agency on Nov. 4, the day after President Nixon’s nationally televised speech on Vietnam policy. USIA officials said the White House was not involved in the planning or its direction.” Gruenberg also wrote that the film “cost $20,000. It was completed early Sunday, and its 12 days of production involved extensive use of film clips of ordinary Americans at work, as well as scenes of former Vice President Hubert Humphrey voicing statements of support for Mr. Nixon during a recent visit to the White House.” (“USIA Film Shows Views Of Majority,” November 19, 1969, page A14)
On November 20, the New York Times printed excerpts from The Silent Majority script. The excerpts included details about the November 15 moratorium demonstration organized by the Vietnam Moratorium Committee (VMC) and the New Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam (New Mobe) and remarks by Humphrey and George Gallup Jr., the President of the Gallup Poll. (“Excerpts From the Script for ‘The Silent Majority,’ page 27) Also that day, USIA officials screened [Page 108] a special showing of The Silent Majority at the office of Representative John E. Moss (Democrat-California), the chair of the House Government Operations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations and Government Information, at the request of Moss and Representative Ogden R. Reid (Republican-New York), the ranking minority member of the committee. New York Times reporter Tad Szulc, in a November 21 article, wrote that after “demanding” a special showing, Moss and Reid “were shown the $20,000 film by Eugene Kopp, the general counsel of U.S.I.A., and Anthony Guarco, deputy assistant director of the agency for motion pictures and television. Mr. Kopp and Mr. Guarco brought the film to the Capitol.” (“U.S.I.A. Film on Dissent Stirs Concern in Capitol,” page 24)
Both Moss and Reid criticized the film, asserting that the editorializing might impair the U.S. image abroad. According to the Washington Post, Moss “said the film indicates a subtle change by an agency committed to informing to one of a ‘propaganda effort.’
“‘That was not the role assigned to the agency,’ said Moss. ‘I think it most appropriate to show demonstrations for or against (U.S. Vietnam policy) or both,’ he added.
“‘But here we are, faced with a slogan, “The Silent Majority,” and the film attempts to establish that as a fact. That’s a very difficult thing to do.’” (Robert-Gruenberg, “Two House Members Criticize USIA Film,” November 22, 1969, page A2)
By 1970, the USIA leadership conceded that The Silent Majority had not been well received abroad. New York Times reporter Richard Halloran wrote in a January 30, 1970, article that a USIA spokesperson stated that “only 26 of the 106 posts overseas to which the film had been sent had reported showing it. Of these, many showings consisted only of selected segments of the film.” The unidentified spokesperson claimed that “17 U.S.I.A. posts reported that the film had not been shown in their host countries because there was no interest, the post officials thought it politically inappropriate, or the local television station or theater managers thought it not timely.” The best reception of the film took place in Mexico “where it was shown 42 times to about seven million people. It also went well in several Central American countries, in Brazil and in Ecuador.” (“‘Silent Majority,’ U.S.I.A. Film, Fails To Stir Foreigners,” page 8)