Writers' War Board

The Writers' War Board was the main domestic propaganda organization in the US during World War II. Privately organized and run, it coordinated American writers with the government.

Purpose
Due to the public skepticism of propaganda due to the heavy-handed efforts of the Committee on Public Information in the US during World War I, and the fascist regimes' propaganda machinery, the US had adopted a "strategy of truth" whereby they would disseminate information but not try to influence the public directly through propaganda. However, seeing the value and need of propaganda, ways were found to circumvent official policy.

The Writers' War Board was organized by Rex Stout two days after Pearl Harbor. Albeit privately owned, it was established expressly to promote government policy and received government funding. Originally intended to promote the sales of war bonds, it soon grew into a liaison office between writers and the government. They both responded to official requests and initiated their own campaigns. Many of the writers involved regarded their work as quicker and bolder than governmental efforts. The board compiled files on four thousand writers, with their regions and fields of expertise.

It worked, according to an employee, as "an arm of the government". And the activities were so extensive that it has been called the "greatest propaganda machine in history". The idea of a Writers' War Board was first proposed by Henry Morgenthau, Jr. It was chaired by Rex Stout, who also led the Society for the Prevention of World War III. The government subsidies were funneled through the United States Office of War Information.

After Congress restricted the activities of the domestic branch of the Office of War Information in mid-1943, the role and importance of the Writers' War Board increased significantly.

Campaigns
The Board compiled lists of books banned or burned in Nazi Germany and distributed them for propaganda purposes, which aided in the staging of thousands of commemorations of the book burnings.

From 1944 until 1948 prominent US policy makers launched a domestic propaganda campaign aimed at convincing the U.S. public to agree to a harsh peace for the German people, for example by removing the common view of the German people and the Nazi party as separate entities. The core in this campaign was the Writers' War Board, which was closely associated with the Roosevelt administration.