| − | 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, having enrolled 75 thousand men in its program. In 18 months they had given 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]]s, [[vaudeville]]s 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, having enrolled 75 thousand men in its program. In 18 months they had given 1,555,000 speeches to 134,000,000 people at a cost to the government of only $140,000. |