Four-Minute Men

During World War I, the Four-Minute Men were a division of the Committee on Public Information (CPI) that helped to persuade Americans to support the war effort; they did this by giving speeches, usually in movie theaters during intermissions. Theaters were particularly effective because 10 to 13 million people attended them daily. These speeches helped to mobilize support for the war and to provide for the essentials of war. The Four-Minute Men overcame the primary weaknesses inherent in other communication channels so that they could present their message to the entire nation, since broadcasting was not yet available.

Donald Ryerson originated the idea for the Four-Minute Men and was the first head of the division. The division was organized in a state-by-state network and eventually included all states in the [Page 338]union and eight territories. Each state or territory had a chairman who was responsible for coordinating activities and for picking the local chairmen, who, in turn, were responsible for the selection and training of the speakers. Despite receiving no pay or reimbursement for expenses, speakers were never hard to find.

The Four-Minute Men division of the CPI maintained control over the network of speakers, including the selection of address topics and the preparation of associated materials. Speakers were trained through a series of bulletins published by the division. From May 1917 to the end of 1918, 46 bulletins were published. Ten dealt with the organization itself. Of the remaining 36, 6 messages concerned raising money and 5 discussed conserving or acquiring food. These messages were essential for the nation to create the materials necessary for war.

Although each speech topic fulfilled a specific function, the bulletins usually provided speakers with some essential elements: an opening letter of encouragement from the division head; points to be covered in every speech and suggested optional points; sample speeches; and sometimes even answers for crowd objections. The speeches presented by the Four-Minute Men were normally delivered in theaters during the intermissions and were limited to four minutes. The organization had a series of auxiliary organizations, including groups with female speakers and Junior Four-Minute Men groups in schools.

“When the armistice brought activities to a conclusion the Four Minute Men numbered 75,000 speakers, more than 755,190 speeches had been made and a fair estimate of audiences makes it certain that a total of 134,454,514 people had been addressed” (Creel, 1920, p. 85). Creel noted that if allowances are made for those communities that made no reports, a final estimate would place the figures at 1 million speeches heard by 400 million individuals for the 18 months the organization was in operation. Creel also noted that for the total government expenditures of $100,000 for the Four-Minute Men division, the organization accrued over $9 million in financial benefits.

A 1917 poster for one of the Four-Minute Men speeches. President Woodrow Wilson recruited 75,000 speakers called Four-Minute Men to give short talks on United States war aims to the public at theater intermissions and other venues.

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, DC.

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