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C. D. Jackson

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Charles Douglas (C. D.) Jackson (March 16, 1902 – September 18, 1964) was a U.S. government psychological warfare expert who served in the Office of War Information in World War II, and later was Special Assistant to the President in the Eisenhower administration. He was also a publisher of Fortune and Life magazines, and a senior executive at Time Inc.

Life and career

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Jackson was born in New York City. After graduating from Princeton University in 1924, he entered the private sector. In 1931 he took a position as Assistant to the President of Time Inc. In 1940 he was President of the Council for Democracy, and from 1942 to 1943, Special Assistant to U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, Laurence Steinhardt.[1]

During WWII, Jackson was assigned to the OWI, where in 1943 he became Deputy Chief, Psychological Warfare Branch, at the Allied Forces Headquarters. The next year he was appointed Deputy Chief, Psychological Warfare Division, serving with General Dwight Eisenhower in the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force.[1] One of Jackson's main tasks was to arouse the conquered people of Europe against the occupying German forces.[1]

After the war, Jackson was managing director of Time-Life International. He later characterized his job as "waging psychological warfare against the Communists" under the guidance of Time's founder Henry Luce.[2] In 1949, Jackson became publisher of Fortune magazine. From 1951 to 1952, he was president of the anticommunist Free Europe Committee, and was a speechwriter for Dwight Eisenhower's successful 1952 presidential campaign.[1]

After Eisenhower was inaugurated, Jackson became a presidential advisor on psychological warfare, with "special responsibilities in the 'cold war' planning" of the administration.[3] He was also a member of the covert operations group known as the Operations Coordinating Board. When joining the White House, Jackson took a leave of absence from Fortune. His new job title was Special Assistant to the President for International Affairs, with a salary of $15,000 a year.[3] In this capacity, he worked closely with the Psychological Strategy Board, and he belonged to the Committee on International Information Activities.[4] Jackson was reportedly one of the writers of Eisenhower's "Atoms for Peace" speech delivered at the UN General Assembly in December 1953.[5] Jackson represented the U.S. as a delegate at the UN's Ninth General Assembly in late 1954.[4]

In his book about Jackson's contributions to Cold War foreign policy, John Allen Stern writes that Jackson was not among Eisenhower's extreme war hawks:

Whereas Jackson wanted to quietly capture the loyalties of the non-aligned nations and make inroads into the Eastern Bloc, as well as strengthen our position with England and France...(John Foster) Dulles opted for outright coercion and applied bullying tactics.[6]

Jackson opposed the anticommunist zealotry of Senator Joseph McCarthy, and urged Eisenhower to not take steps that would seem to appease McCarthy.[7][8]

In the early 1950s, Jackson helped establish the Bilderberg Group and ensured U.S. participation. He attended most of the Bilderberg Group meetings from 1954 to 1964.[9]

Jackson was instrumental in creating Radio Free Europe,[10] and he defended its mission to promote American values throughout the world.[11] When the organization was accused of fomenting anti-Soviet rebellions behind the Iron Curtain, he stated: "Over the years, Radio Free Europe has never, in a single broadcast or leaflet, deviated from its essential policy, and did not broadcast a single program during the recent Polish and Hungarian developments which could be described as an 'incitement' program."[12][13] To counter Soviet propaganda about the mistreatment of Negroes in the U.S., Jackson emphasized "the significant progress toward full equality brought about by the democratic system", and championed Porgy and Bess as illustrative of the social and cultural advancement that was occurring.[14]

In the late 1950s, Jackson resumed working in the publishing industry. He was administrative vice president at Life magazine, and then in April 1960 was promoted to publisher of the magazine.[15] In 1958 he briefly returned to the White House to aid President Eisenhower as a speechwriter and consultant during the Lebanon crisis.[1]

After Abraham Zapruder recorded his famous home movie in Dallas on November 22, 1963—in which he filmed the assassination of President John F. Kennedy—Jackson was involved in the negotiations that acquired all rights to the Zapruder film on behalf of Life magazine.[16] Upon watching the disturbing film on November 24, Jackson ordered it locked away and denied public viewing until an appropriate later time.[17]

Jackson was Time Inc.'s Senior Vice President before his death at age 62 in September 1964.[18]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Jackson, C. D. Papers, 1931-1967". Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library.
  2. ^ Jackson, C. D. (1988). "Psychological Warriors Never Die". In Brands, H. W. (ed.). Cold Warriors: Eisenhower's Generation and American Foreign Policy. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 117–18. ISBN 978-0231065269.
  3. ^ a b Leviero, Anthony (February 17, 1953). "Eisenhower Picks a 'Cold War' Chief". The New York Times. p. 16.
  4. ^ a b "Jackson, C. D.: Records, 1953-54" (PDF). Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library.
  5. ^ Stern, John Allen (2012). C. D. Jackson: Cold War Propagandist for Democracy and Globalism. Lanham: University Press of America. pp. xiv–xv. ISBN 978-0761857297.
  6. ^ Stern 2012, p. 101.
  7. ^ Jackson, Charles Douglas (1953). "Personal Notes of C. D. Jackson" (PDF). Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library.
  8. ^ Corn, David (2022). American Psychosis: A Historical Investigation of How the Republican Party Went Crazy. Twelve Books. pp. 45–46. ISBN 978-1538723050.
  9. ^ Aubourg, Valerie (2003). "Organizing Atlanticism: The Bilderberg group and the Atlantic Institute, 1952-1963". Intelligence and National Security. 18 (2): 92–105. doi:10.1080/02684520412331306760. S2CID 153892953.
  10. ^ Stern 2012, p. 33.
  11. ^ Laberge, Yves (December 2015). "C. D. Jackson: Cold War Propagandist for Democracy and Globalism". International Journal on World Peace. 32 (4): 91–94. JSTOR 24543814.
  12. ^ Granville, Johanna (2005). "'Caught With Jam on Our Fingers': Radio Free Europe and the Hungarian Revolution in 1956". Diplomatic History. 29 (5): 811–839.
  13. ^ Granville, Johanna (2004). The First Domino: International Decision Making During the Hungarian Crisis of 1956. Texas A & M University Press, College Station, Texas. ISBN 1-58544-298-4.
  14. ^ Noonan, Ellen (2012). The Strange Career of Porgy and Bess: Race, Culture, and America's Most Famous Opera. UNC Press Books. p. 192. ISBN 978-0807837337.
  15. ^ "Executives Shifted by Luce and Larsen". Connecticut Post. April 22, 1960. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ Stolley, Richard (November 1973). "The Greatest Home Movie Ever Made". Esquire. Vol. LXXX. p. 135.
  17. ^ "Zapruder's Tragic View". Hartford Courant. July 8, 1998. Archived from the original on July 9, 2025.
  18. ^ Hunt, George P. "Editors' Note: C. D. Jackson 1902–1964," LIFE (magazine), 2 October 1964 (scroll down to page 3). Retrieved 22 February 2026.
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