Shortly after the declaration of war on April 6, 1917, a presidential executive order established the Committee on Public Information (CPI) for the purpose of issuing propaganda to the American people and to rally the American people behind the country’s war effort through all methods of service, from industrial to agricultural and from education to media. Wilson hired George Creel, the publisher of the Kansas City Independent and editor of Rocky Mountain News, to head the CPI. Rather than relying solely on newspapers, Creel concentrated on publishing a number of pamphlets. The most popular pamphlets distributed were “Loyalty Leaflets” and two series of pamphlets titled “Red, White and Blue Series” and the “War Information Series.” These were simple appeals to working men to support the war and were not targeted to any specific region, but to all Americans.

Up to this point, Americans’ exposure to propaganda mainly involved newspapers; however, the creation of the CPI changed the format of propaganda dramatically and citizens were soon barraged with military messages through numerous approaches. Between 1917 and 1918 millions of leaflets and pamphlets were distributed to newspapers, chambers of commerce, manufacturer’s associations, labor unions, banks, general stores, YMCA branches, post offices, railroad stations, state councils on defense, and nearly ten thousand public libraries.