College Honors Program

“Dizzy Old Wizard” vs. “Sportsman and Hunter”: U.S. Press Views of Iranian Leadership During the Cold War

Date of Creation

5-17-2023

Document Type

Campus Access Only

First Advisor

Sahar Bazzaz

Abstract

Iran under the brief leadership of nationalist Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq from 1951-1953 and then under the iron fist of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi from 1953-1979 represents a notable period of study for U.S. newsprint culture. This thesis explores how four news media outlets (Time Magazine, Life Magazine, New York Times, and the Chicago Defender) created images and translations of Iran and Iranian leadership in specific ways to an American middle-class readership. I reveal how press depictions of Iranian society and leaders during periods of great change illuminate U.S. political and economic priorities in the Third World following World War II. Namely, the U.S. press was interested in understanding important changes in Iran that brought to a head conflicts over oil nationalization, U.S. Cold War anxieties, and economic development as a strategy to prevent the spread of Communism. My research demonstrates how the U.S. press’ discourse on Iranian leadership in the context of the Cold War was connected to the perception that as long as a leader was non-obstructionist and able to move Iran in an American-oriented direction, then he was often portrayed in friendly, civilized, and masculine terms.

Comments

Reader: Michael West

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