Edward Hunter (July 2, 1902 – June 24, 1978)Hunter, Edward. "Personal History Statement." Central Intelligence Agency. — via Internet Archive.Staff writer (25 Jun. 1978)
"Edward Hunter, Author and Expert On 'Brainwashing'"
(

obituary An obituary ( obit for short) is an article about a recently deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on positive aspects of the subject's life, this is not always the case. Ac ...

). '' New York Times''. p. 28. Archived fro
the original.
/ref> was an American writer, journalist, propagandist, and intelligence agent who was noted for his anticommunist writing. He was a recognized authority on psychological warfare. Both contemporary psychologists and later historians would criticize the accuracy and basis of his reports on

brainwashing Brainwashing (also known as mind control, menticide, coercive persuasion, thought control, thought reform, and forced re-education) is the concept that the human mind can be altered or controlled by certain psychological techniques. Brainwash ...

, but the concept nevertheless became influential in the Cold War-era United States.

Early life

Hunter was born in New York on July 2, 1902. "Hunter, Edward." ''Virginia, U.S. Death Records, 1912-2014''. Richmond, VA:

Virginia Department of Health The Virginia Department of Health oversees public health throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country ...

Journalism

Hunter began his career as a newspaperman and

foreign correspondent A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...

for the old International News Service. From 1926 to 1928, Hunter worked for the ''Hankow Herald'' newspaper in

Hankow, China Hankou, alternately romanized as Hankow (), was one of the three towns (the other two were Wuchang and Hanyang) merged to become modern-day Wuhan city, the capital of the Hubei province, China. It stands north of the Han and Yangtze Rivers wher ...

, and traveling in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

during the Japanese invasion of

Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of (Great) Manchuria after 1934, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China, Manchuria from 1932 until 1945. It was founded as a republic in 1932 afte ...

and its detachment from China. He reported on the Japanese invasion of Manchuria before spending five years in Spain covering the Spanish Civil War. He later covered the

Second Italo-Abyssinian War The Second Italo-Ethiopian War, also referred to as the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, was a war of aggression which was fought between Italy and Ethiopia from October 1935 to February 1937. In Ethiopia it is often referred to simply as the Itali ...

between Italy and Ethiopia and took note of the psychological warfare methods used in all those instances as well as during the preparations by Germany for World War II. He went on to work at several newspapers and periodicals, including ''The Newark Ledger'', ''The New Orleans Item'', and in his home state, '' The New York Post'', ''

The New York American :''Includes coverage of New York Journal-American and its predecessors New York Journal, The Journal, New York American and New York Evening Journal'' The ''New York Journal-American'' was a daily newspaper published in New York City from 1937 t ...

'', ''Tactics'', and ''Counterattack''. He later worked in France at the '' Chicago Tribunes Paris edition. Hunter was also active in the Newspaper Guild, the journalists' trade union, which he felt was dominated by communist sympathizers. In January 1964 he began publication of the ''Tactics'' newsletter under the auspices of Anti-Communism Liaison, Inc."Anti-Communist Liaison, Inc."
WorldCat. . Hunter served as Chairman of the organization and editor of the newsletter until 1978.

Critical reception

Historian Julia Lovell has criticized Hunter's reporting as "outlandish" and sensational. By 1956, US government psychologists largely concluded after examining files of Korean War POWs that brainwashing as described by Hunter did not exist, but the impact of his reporting was significant, and helped shaped public consciousness about the threat of Communism for decades. Lovell argues that Hunter created "an image of all-powerful Chinese 'brainwashing' ... hatsupposed an ideological unified Maoist front stretching from China to Korea and Malaya", but declassified US documents show a much more complicated and contested picture of Chinese influence and international aspirations in Asia.

Intelligence work

Hunter provided testimony to Senator Keating stating that joined the

Office of Strategic Services The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the intelligence agency of the United States during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines for all branc ...

(OSS) about the time of Pearl Harbor and served for the life of the organization.Hunter, Edward (Mar. 24, 1959)
"Statement of Edward Hunter."
In
''The Effect of Red China Communes on the United States''. Hearing before the Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws.
Committee in the Judiciary, United States Senate, Eight-Sixth Congress, First Session. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. p. 2. . After the war he "helped close up shop" and continued his intelligence work under various other agencies such as SSU, the Strategic Services Unit of the U.S. Army. ''Communist Psychological Warfare (Brainwashing): Consultation with Edward Hunter'' (1958). Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, 85th Congress, 2nd session, March 13, 1958. Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office. When the CIA was organized in 1947, Hunter joined under journalistic cover.

Psychological warfare

Hunter is widely acknowledged as having coined the term

in a 1950 article for ''

Miami News ''The Miami News'' was an evening newspaper in Miami, Florida. It was the media market competitor to the morning edition of the ''Miami Herald'' for most of the 20th century. The paper started publishing in May 1896 as a weekly called ''The Miami ...

''. He first used it publicly in an article for the Miami News on September 24, 1950.Hunter, Edward (24 Sep. 1950
"'Brain-Washing' Tactics Force Chinese Into Ranks of Communist Party."
''

''. p. 2A. In this article and in later works, Hunter claimed that by combining Pavlovian theory with modern technology, Russian and Chinese psychologists had developed powerful techniques for manipulating the mind. It was Hunter's variation of the Chinese term "xinao", meaning "cleaning the brain." As author Dominic Streatfeild recounts, Hunter conceived the term after interviewing former Chinese prisoners who had been subjected to a "re-education" process. Streatfeild, Dominic (2006). '' Brainwash: The Secret History of Mind Control''. London:

Hodder & Stoughton Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint (trade name), imprint of Hachette (publisher), Hachette. History Early history The firm has its origins in the 1840s, with Matthew Hodder's employment, aged 14, with Messrs ...

. . . He applied it to the interrogation techniques the KGB used during purges to extract confessions from innocent prisoners, and from there, variations were conceived - mind control, mind alteration, behavior modification, and others. A year later, Hunter's magnum opus ''Brain-Washing in Red China: The Calculated Destruction of Men's Minds'' was published, warning of a vast Maoist system of ideological "re-education." The new terminology found its way into the mainstream in '' The Manchurian Candidate'' novel and the movie of the same name in 1962.

Congressional testimony

In March 1958, Hunter testified before the US House of Representatives' House Committee on Un-American Activities. He described the US and NATO as losing the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

because of the communists' advantage in

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

and psychological manipulation. He felt that the West lost the Korean War for being unwilling to use its advantage in atomic weapons. He saw no difference between the various communist countries and warned that both Yugoslavia and

were as bent on communist world domination as was the Soviet Union.

Later life

He died in Arlington, Virginia on September 24, 1978."Hunter, Edward." '' Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014.'' Washington D.C.: Social Security Administration.

Works

Books

* ''Brain-Washing in Red China: The Calculated Destruction of Men's Minds''. New York: Vanguard Press (1951). ::Revised edition (1971). * ''Brainwashing: The Story of Men Who Defied It''. New York: Farrar, Straus & Cudahy (1956)
Abstract
at

APA PsycNet PsycINFO is a database of abstracts of literature in the field of psychology. It is produced by the American Psychological Association and distributed on the association's APA PsycNET and through third-party vendors. It is the electronic versio ...

. ::Expanded edition published a
''Brainwashing: From Pavlov to Powers''
(1962).
''The Story of Mary Liu''.
New York: Farrar, Straus & Cudahy (1956); London:

. .
''The Black Book on Red China: The Continuing Revolt''.
New York: The Bookmailer (1958). * ''The Past Present: A Year in Afghanistan''. London:

(1959).
''In Many Voices: Our Fabulous Foreign-Language Press''.
Norman Park, GA: Norman College (1960). "These pages present a cross-section of the foreign-language newspapers in the United States."
''Brainwashing: From Pavlov to Powers''.
New York: The Bookmailer (1962). ::Expanded edition of ''Brainwashing: The Story of Men Who Defied It'' (1956). * ''Attack by Mail''. Linden, NJ: The Bookmailer (1966).

Articles

* "Heresy in Japan." '' The Nation'' (May 9, 1928), pp. 549–550. * "Hate Made to Order." (Jul. 1937). * "The France and Germany of Asia." ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

'' (Apr. 1938), pp. 46–47, 181–184. Full issue. * "Streamlined Atrocities." ''Coronet Magazine'' (Jun. 1938), pp. 3–8. * "The Isms Are After Me." ''Harpers Monthly'' (Jul. 1938), pp. 218–220.
"Enemies at Democracy's Table."
''

'', vol. 10, no. 4(59) (Oct. 1938), pp. 36-37, 143-145. * "He Warned Us Against Japan." '' American Mercury'' (Dec. 1943), pp. 692–695. * "Can We Make Use of Hirohito?" '' The Nation'' (Mar. 4, 1944), pp. 278–279. * "Can We Make Use of the Japanese Emperor?" ''

New Republic New Republic may refer to: Places * New Republic, California, former name of Santa Rita, Monterey County, California * New Republic (Santarem), district in the city of Santarém, Pará Countries * New Republic (Brazil), the restored civilian gove ...

'' (Mar. 4, 1944), pp. 278–279.
"'Brain-Washing' Tactics Force Chinese Into Ranks of Communist Party."
''

'' (Sep. 24, 1950), p. 2A. * "If I Were Mao Tse-Tung." '' American Mercury'' (Apr. 1952), pp. 39–48. * "The Suicide of Recognizing Red China." '' American Mercury'' (May 1952), pp. 44–54. * "Defeat by Default." '' American Mercury'' (Sep. 1952), pp. 40–51. * "A Policy for Asia." '' American Mercury''. (Dec. 1952), pp. 37–42. * "Betrayal in Asia." '' American Mercury''. (Jan. 1958), pp. 117–122. * "The Indian Shell Game." '' American Mercury'' (Sep. 1958), pp. 29–35. * "We're Asking for It in Panama." '' National Review'' (Mar. 14, 1959), pp. 583–584. * "Murray Kempton: Unkempt." ''

American Opinion American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

'', vol. 5, no. 10 (Nov. 1962), pp. 1-9. * "McNamara as Sec. of Disarmament: U.S. Defense Secondary." ''Tactics'', vol. 3, no. 5 (May 20, 1966). 8-page supplement. Full issue.
"Why He Was Planted in Treasury: Sonnenfeldt Case Explained."
''Tactics'', vol. 10, no. 11 (Nov. 20, 1973), pp. 8–9. .

Pamphlets

''The France and Germany of Asia''
(1938). Chicago:

- Coronet, Inc.

Testimony

* ''Communist Psychological Warfare (Brainwashing): Consultation with Edward Hunter''. Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, 85th Congress, 2nd session, March 13, 1958. (1958) Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office.

References

External links

* HUNTER, Edward (CIA file) at Internet Archive
Works by Edward Hunter
at The Online Books Page
Edward Hunter Papers, 1922-1960
at Wisconsin Historical Society
The Hunter Collection
at the Association of Research Libraries
''Political Communications and Mass Education in China in the Early Years of the People's Republic''.
Hunter's collection of Chinese propaganda (leaflets and comic books), digitized by the Center for Research Libraries. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Edward 1902 births 1978 deaths American male journalists 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American non-fiction writers American anti-communists 20th-century American male writers