re: #371 Dark_Falcon

What happened with Sinclair is a classic example of spin, with Teddy Roosevelt as the spin-master. He didn’t want socialism to gain ground, so he changed the subject, inviting Sinclair to the White House but then focusing all of his remarks on the issue of food safety, save only to dismiss Sinclair’s socialism as “pathetic”. TR used what he called the “bully pulpit” to set the direction of the national conversation, as have many presidents since.

Indeed, he was alarmed by the implications of Sinclair’s book and wished to not only dash the chances of a socialist revolution, but also to smear Sinclair’s name in perpetuity. He purposefully sent inspectors to major slaughterhouses and packing plants, hoping to prove that Sinclair’s claims were bunk. But even with advance notice, courtesy of leaks within the White House, the companies still couldn’t clean things up such that Sinclair’s claims were proven. Teddy saw that there was no way to destroy Sinclair, so instead he used his claims as grounds to launch his own initiative to clean up the food industry.

Some of the best presidents have been those who have been able to turn others calls for action into their initiatives they could slap their names on.