| | During [[World War I]], the '''Four Minute Men''' program helped mobilize [[public opinion]]; it was a division of the Federal [[Committee on Public Information]] in June 1917. The Four Minute Men were local volunteers who spoke at public gatherings, [[fair|fairs]], [[vaudeville|vaudevilles]] and [[motion picture|motion picture houses]] for four minutes. Speakers received material from which to prepare speeches. Speeches combated adverse publicity and [[German]] [[propaganda]], supported fund drives, called for support of the [[Red Cross]] and the [[YMCA]], and promoted Liberty Loans, [[rationing|food conservation]], and [[gardening|victory gardens]]. The program ended a few weeks after the war ended in 1918, and enrolled 75 thousand men in its program. In 18 months they gave 1,555,000 speeches to 134,000,000 people at a cost to the government of only $140,000. | | During [[World War I]], the '''Four Minute Men''' program helped mobilize [[public opinion]]; it was a division of the Federal [[Committee on Public Information]] in June 1917. The Four Minute Men were local volunteers who spoke at public gatherings, [[fair|fairs]], [[vaudeville|vaudevilles]] and [[motion picture|motion picture houses]] for four minutes. Speakers received material from which to prepare speeches. Speeches combated adverse publicity and [[German]] [[propaganda]], supported fund drives, called for support of the [[Red Cross]] and the [[YMCA]], and promoted Liberty Loans, [[rationing|food conservation]], and [[gardening|victory gardens]]. The program ended a few weeks after the war ended in 1918, and enrolled 75 thousand men in its program. In 18 months they gave 1,555,000 speeches to 134,000,000 people at a cost to the government of only $140,000. |
| | + | The role of the Four Minute Men was to get out a unified message that the government wanted people to hear, in an effort to manufacture support for the war.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=SvQ-AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA24 The Four Minute Men of Chicago], Page 24-25</ref> They also urged citizens to purchase Liberty Bonds and Thrift Stamps.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=3qhRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA796 The American Year Book: A Record of Events and Progress, Volume 1918]</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Uv1tAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT87 The Untold History of the United States, Volume 1: Young Readers Edition, 1898-1945]</ref> |