PR NOTABLES OF AMERICAN JOHN W. HILL

1890–1977

John Wiley Hill was an American public relations executive. He co-founded Hill+Knowlton Strategies with Donald Knowlton in 1933. Beginning with the establishment of the New York headquarters, Hill headed what was once the world’s largest PR agency for about 30 years. He participated in client policy making for major trade associations such as in the steel, tobacco and aviation industries. He also represented multinational corporations, including Procter & Gamble, Texaco and Gillette. Hill+Knowlton was the first American agency to establish an international network. Public relations practitioners and journalists alike have ranked Hill+Knowlton highly. (Courtesy of The Media School at Indiana University)

Dwight D. Eisenhower, the First Television President

1952

It’s not surprising that John F. Kennedy is often regarded as the nation’s first television president. He was youthful, photogenic and at ease before the camera, all of which helped him in the first-ever televised presidential debate against Richard Nixon in 1960.

But the TV title arguably belongs to Dwight D. Eisenhower, the first presidential candidate to air television ads and the first to televise press conferences, which were taped for later broadcast.

One an upbeat, catchy tune, created by the iconic songwriter Irving Berlin: “You like Ike, I like Ike, everybody likes Ike for president . . .”

When he gave lengthy speeches, Eisenhower came off as stiff, so his communications advisers devised a different strategy to convey his ideas. Short TV spots featured “ordinary Americans” posing questions. To one woman, he responds, “Yes, my Mamie gets after me about the high cost of living. It’s another reason why I say, ‘It’s time for a change.’”

As the former supreme commander of Allied forces in World War II, Eisenhower was already a popular figure. He won landslide elections against Democrat Adlai Stevenson in 1952 and 1956. Among his advisers was the legendary PR figure, former AT&T executive Arthur W. Page.

From then on, television played a major role in presidential campaigns, reaching a record high in 2020, when almost $1 billion in broadcast TV ads aired in the presidential general election.