114 e lusive v ictories
the new selective service system to local boards rather than implement
it through a national agency. Men would be chosen, exempted, or
rejected, then, by distinguished members of their own community.
In broad terms, the administration hoped to generate enthusiasm for
society-wide war mobilization by building on the reform energy that
Progressivism had stimulated over the previous fi fteen-odd years. Pro-
gressivism encompassed a wide range of reformist ideas and initiatives.
Varied though these were, they were linked by some shared threads, and
these could be tapped to sustain mobilization. Progressive ideals,
expressed by infl uential writers such as Herbert Croly, included a com-
mitment to a new nationalism, a belief that individualism should be
devoted to the service of a higher calling or purpose, and an abiding
faith in the power of reason and science to solve social problems.
Wilson had amassed solid Progressive credentials, too, by the time
America entered the war. He had pushed through important measures
to expand government regulation of corporations, off er better pro-
tection for the rights of working people to organize, and more. Various
Progressive activists saw the war as an opportunity to extend their pro-
jects across the whole of American society, and took that to be their
patriotic duty. More than that, through its involvement in the war,
the United States could extend Progressive principles beyond its own
borders. Th e president had signaled as much in his initial war address
to Congress when he hailed the recent revolution in Russia as a sign of
the democratic aspirations the United States would advance. ^
To promote popular support for the war and channel the Progressive
spirit, the administration established the Committee on Public Infor-
mation (CPI) under journalist George Creel in April 1917 and staff ed it
with dedicated reformers who believed the war could tap the Progressive
spirit of service and self-sacrifi ce. Th e committee represented the fi rst
offi cial American attempt at propaganda. Rather than censor negative
reports from the front that might depress public morale, CPI stressed
positive news and magnifi ed the merits of the Allied cause. Progressives
welcomed the Creel Committee eff ort to promote American values
among immigrant groups, as well as its eff orts to check prostitution and
alcohol consumption. Th e latter dovetailed with attempts to promote
“social hygiene” around the burgeoning training camps where young
men might otherwise be tempted by, well, all the things that tempt