George Washington: Public relations genius - by Stanley Hurwitz

Stanley Hurwitz, Creative Communications

When you hear the name George Washington or see his image on a $1 bill or on a quarter, you probably don’t think about public relations or marketing. I didn’t either until watching Fox TV’s series “Legends & Lies: The Patriots,” then reading His Excellency, George Washington by Joseph Ellis.

I was surprised to learn that the term “public relations” in the U.S. dates to the Revolutionary War! Strategies used to recruit enlistees for the Continental Army and staging of the Boston Tea Party are examples of early public relations. President Thomas Jefferson used the term in an 1807 address to Congress when he replaced the words “state of thought” with “public relations.”

During another war, WWI, a member of the committee assigned to a massive communications effort to gain support of the war was Edward Bernays, later considered to be the father of public relations. He said, “This was the first time in our history that information was used as a weapon of war.” He was a longtime Boston resident who lived to 104. I heard him speak at an event when he was around 95.

The young Washington often found himself surrounded by events, battles, and meetings that went in his favor often thanks to advisors and generals he had chosen. Sometimes he had been chosen by a higher authority to create a new nation. He was modest but as his image and reputation grew, so did his self-confidence.

Enough history, more about PR. The Electoral College unanimously elected Washington as the first president in 1789, and again 1792. He remains the only president to receive 100% of the electoral votes.

In the fall of 1789, months after being named the first president, Washington honored his pledge to visit all the states – sort of an 18th century publicity tour – but not about himself; rather about rallying everyone under the American flag. His month-long New England tour brought him to 60 towns. Everywhere, people gathered, often waiting hours, to see a living hero who had led the ragtag Continental Army against the polished British regulars. In 1791, Washington embarked on a southern tour of 2,000 miles. His entourage included 11 horses plus his white parade horse Prescott. Washington would mount Prescott just outside each town, the horse’s hooves painted and polished before each arrival. Along for the ride was his greyhound named Cornwallis after a British general he had defeated. By the end of Washington’s version of a modern-day celebrity tour, residents of all states south of the Potomac had an opportunity to see the new President. At each stop, Washington connected the War of Independence and its thousands of militiamen with the birth and glory of the new United States.

Every business can use its own version of Washington’s publicity tour –using news stories, newsletters, blogs, ads, etc. An experienced, creative PR pro can bring success on every front.

Stanley Hurwitz, principal of Creative Communications, Stoughton, Mass.