U.S. News & World Report Tumblelog

December 26, 1952: U.S.News & World Report answered the question, What Is McCarthyism? ”To some it’s the fight for America. To others it’s character assassination. Whoever is right, it packs a potent political punch that cannot be brushed aside.” (Credit: Harris & Ewing/ Library of Congress)

December 28, 1951: U.S.News & World Report wrote about the amount of money to be spent on arms in the years ahead. ” … at least 139 billion dollars more will be spent for arms than has been spent since the program of rearmament began … .That is big money by any standard.” (Illustration by Paul Hoffmaster)

March 17, 1950: Just months prior to North Korea’s invasion of South Korea, U.S.News & World Report outlined how the defense costs are shared within NATO. The magazine stated that ”Military costs in United States are almost three times as heavy as in all West Europe combined.”

November 18, 1949: U.S.News & World Report speculated why the atomic bomb would not be used. ”Developing theory is that bomb stockpiles will cancel out … Neither side will be willing to drop the first one … So, if a war comes, bombs might be kept in cold storage.”

“Starting with this issue U.S. News and World Report are combined.”

January 16, 1948: The first issue of U.S.News & World Report was the first time David Lawrence combined his two separate publications, United States News and World Report. The cover story was about the Marshall Plan, ”a directive that would aid 270 million people in 16 countries in West Europe.” … General Marshall warned that, without assistance, Europe would suffer intense economic distress, with social and political upheavals, more dictatorships, and eventually a third world war … Congress, he said, ”should put up enough money to do the job thoroughly or not attempt it at all.”

May 27, 1947: After its first year of publication, World Report turned to the ”Growing Crisis Inside the Soviet Union” and discussed its current state of affairs and the effect on American Policy. ”American policy in Greece, for example, rests on an estimate of Soviet strength at home. If Washington’s estimate is incorrect, the policies on which it is based could end in disaster.”

March 14, 1947: With William Benton on the cover, U.S. News talked about his position as Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs and the expanding role his agency’s broadcasts played in penetrating the Iron Curtain covering Russia. ”These include broadcasts in many more languages, the distribution of American moving pictures, books, magazines, newspaper articles and news and exchanges of students and other personnel.” (Harris & Ewing)

February 10, 1986: On Jan. 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger exploded moments after takeoff. This issue of U.S. News investigates the explosion and remembers the space shuttle crew. ”The horror came home like the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, for, just as then, television captured clearly the 73-second ride to catastrophe. The world witnessed, over and over and over, astronauts die.” (NASA)

May 23, 1946: The United States News founder David Lawrence wanted his new publication, World Report, to be ”written in the perspective of the world rather than that of any one country.” The first issue featured Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek: ”Americans in China are trying to assist a nation that at last has a chance for a future of its own. There are surface appearances, at least, that the Chinese—given a restored independence in a war waged at great cost by the United States—will patch up differences among their warring factions.” (Kodachrome from Guillumette)

September 13, 1946: The United States News featured Robert Hannegan, chairman of the Democratic National Committee and Postmaster General, for a story discussing the Democrats’ campaign strategy in a world ”minus their master political strategist, Franklin D. Roosevelt.” The magazine also reviewed the case for Alaska statehood. ”This movement is partly the outgrowth of the vital part played by Alaska in the recent war. It is spurred also by the fact that the Far North, in the coming phase of history, is expected to be this country’s most important defense frontier.” (European)

May 11, 1945: ”The European war is over. After 5 years and 8 months of fighting for world dominance, Germany is beaten.” The United States News continued to examine the postwar scene in its ”Balance Sheet of Victory,” including an analysis of the remaining national powers and the costs to the victors. The U.S. ”has spent $170,000,000,000 to defeat Germany in World War II, as compared with $41,000,000,000 in World War I.”

November 17, 1944: Bursting through the cover pages of The United States News, the magazine looked the coming presidential term. ”Four years, in fact, may prove to be too short a time in which to do all of the things the President has in mind. This ordinarily, would suggest that it might be considered necessary by the White House to seek a fifth term, but no such prospect now is held out.” (Press Association)

August 13, 1943: After the Allies drove German and Italian troops out of Sicily in July 1943, The United States News analyzed the military’s reluctance to continue enemy pursuit. ”By the time the count had gone up to two weeks, the chance for a decisive knockout that would have given Italy to the Allies all in one piece and all at one time had gone.” However, it praised Dwight D. Eisenhower’s ability to produce results on the military front. ”There is the question of whether the politicians and the diplomats are to be ready to follow up when General Eisenhower and his Air Forces apply the heat of bombing to other areas in Europe.” (U.S. Army Signal Corps)

September 25, 1942: As war efforts ramped up both domestically and abroad, The United States News took a comprehensive look at how women were filling jobs shortages in industry, nursing and the military. ”So great is the need that some firms have quit waiting for women to finish vocational schools. They hire them, put them through two-week courses on how to conduct themselves in a factory, teach them safety rules and put them to work on machines, teaching on the job.” (Acme)