Operation Candor Plan to Educate Americans About the Soviet Threat and the “Age of Peril” (1953)

Date: July 22,1953

Created By: No Author

Original or Replica: Original

Era: The Cold War, The Presidency

Collection: Eisenhower Presidential Library

Citations: White House Office, National Security Council Papers, PSB Central Files Series, Box 17, PSB 091.4 U.S. (2); NAID #12021612

This July 22, 1953 memorandum outlines Project “Candor,” an Eisenhower administration proposal to better inform the American public about the dangers of the Cold War and what the document calls the “Age of Peril.” The plan argues that Americans did not fully understand the power of the Soviet Union, the dangers of atomic warfare, or the possibility that the Cold War could continue for years. To address this, the administration proposed a nationwide public information campaign centered on six fifteen-minute radio and television programs featuring President Dwight D. Eisenhower and senior government officials.

Proposed programs would examine the nature of Communism, Soviet military and economic capabilities, threats to the United States, America’s alliances and the United Nations, domestic Communism, and the responsibilities of American citizens. Participants would include John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, J. Edgar Hoover, Herbert Brownell, Admiral Arthur Radford, and Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. The plan also called for a major nonpartisan advertising campaign using newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and other media. The final presidential program would encourage Americans to support civil defense, purchase savings bonds, donate blood, and preserve democratic freedoms. The document illustrates the Eisenhower administration’s effort to build public understanding and support for a long-term Cold War strategy.