Nimitz''s Newsman: Waldo Drake and the Navy''s Censored War in the Pacific

When Lt. Cdr. Waldo Drake, USNR arrived in Pearl Harbor in June 1941 as the U.S. Pacific Fleets first Public Relations Officer (PRO), he was an admired maritime reporter for the Los Angeles Times and Reserve Officer appointed to intelligence duties. By October 1944, he was hated by most of the correspondents assigned to cover the war against Japan and seen as by officials in Washington as an obstacle to the development of Navy public relations. What led Drake to become the Pacific Fleets first PRO, what happened during the three years he served on the CINCPAC staff, and why he was removed from that position are the focus of Nimitzs Newsman: Waldo Drake and the Rise of U.S. Navy Public Relations.

Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Adm. Chester Nimitz, USN assumed command of the Pacific Fleet and inherited Drakes services. Drake became responsible for informing Americas press about the Pacific Fleets wartime role and thus gained an outsized ability to influence American public opinion. The Navys decision to allow public relations officers to censor press copy caused numerous conflicts between Drake and the correspondents assigned to the Fleet. It was Drakes love for the Navy, his tendency to take on every job himself, and above all his close relationship with Adm. Nimitz that allowed him to perform censorship duties with approval. Drakes protection of Nimitz, and his reticence to give the press any information that could endanger operational security or dampen morale, caused Navy victories to go under-reportedmuch to the consternation of officials in Washington.

In analyzing the dynamics of Drake and Nimitzs relationship, and in highlighting Drakes interactions with correspondents and Navy officials, Nimitzs Newsman reveals the inside story of the rise of the Navys public relations during World War II. See more