Evening star., 1950-06-15
Air Force Decorates
Leo, Master-Mind
OF Propagandizing
Ghost Writer PIunted
Public Attack on Navy,
CoIumnist Asserts
By David laurence

Propagandizing has become a
respectable profession, even tran
scending in prestige that of
lobbying or ghost writing.
Stephen F. Leo, master-mind
of the Air Forces successful
fight against all other armed
services, has just been given the
Air Forces exceptional service
award" for his work as public re-
lations director of the United
States Air Force. 1t was presented
to him not by the civilian Sec
retary for Air, even though Mr..
Leo is civilian empioye, but by
Gen. Hoyt s. Vandenberg. chief
of the Air Force.
This event has a lot of mean
ing behind it. Thus, recognition
given by the military department
for publicity and press-agent work
is rather unique and indicates
how far militarism has progressed
in the United States.
Only in European governments
has the propaganda minister oc-
cupied an analogous place in ma
tional councils.
Planned Attack on Navy.
Stephen Leo, however, deserves,
from the Air Force viewpoint,
every medal that can be bestowed
upon him for his work as a pro-
pagandist He succeeded in plant
ing such an ingenious attack on
the United States Navy that the
officers of the latter impulsively
broke out with charges against the
B-36 only to have their ears
pinned back through the power of
Stephen Leo, who engineered the
fight against them.
Navy men credit the publicity
department of the United States
Air Force with sinking the super
carrier United States" and they
jokingly remark that this is the
only carrier anybody in the
United States Air Force ever sank
because in World War II no air
craft carrier of any kind was sent
to the bottom by United States
Air Force bombers.
Stephen Leo is credited also
with being the ghost writer who
drafted speeches for high-ranking
Air Force officers. At one time
he is said to have had 100 writer's
under him throughout the world
all attached to the Air Force
and carrying on the fight for more
and more air power for the United
States Air Force and less and less
for the Navy aviators and ground
services.
Much of what Stephen Leo has
done to earn the Exceptional SER
vice award" probably will never be
known. He is reported in one
newspaper dispatch in September,
1948 to have been the man who did
the propaganda job for the 10
group Air Force that caused so
much distress to the late Secretary
Of Defense Forrestal at q time when
the President had approved an
Air Force of less size.
Sat in on Top Councils.
Stephen Leo is said to be as
skillful in keeping things out of
print as in getting them published.
He sat in on all the important
councils of the Air Force in which
plans were made, almost from the
close of the war in 1945, to be-
little and break down the Navy'S
program for naval aviation and di-
vert the money to the planes which
the Air Force wanted.
Most people. of course. having
been impressed by the vast amount
of Air Force propaganda since the
war, think that the Navy started
the row. Navy men claim that
they took an aggressive stand in
the B-36 hearings only because of
the propaganda attacks made
against them through the public
relations office of the Air Force.
Testimony was introduced at the
House Armed Services Committee
last year showing that the Read
ers Digest" for example, started
the controversy off with an article
attacking the Navy which was
confidentially prepared with the
cooperation of the Air Force
publicity office.
It is significant, of course, that
the famous "OP %" in the Navy
Department was disbanded and
the Navy Public Relations men
were spanked for trying to present
the Navy side. More than one of
them privately prayed that some
one like Steve Leo might be made
available to the Navy-they would
have settled promptly for Steve
Leo himself, so widespread was the
recognition among Navy men of
Mr.. Leo's powers as a publicity
Strategist.
At present Leo is special assistant
to his former chief, Stuart Sym
ington, who has now become chair
man of the National Security Re-
sources Board, but If Leo ever
ventures to leave the Government,
some Of the companies with public
relations troubles and a losing
case would be smart to grab him.
He is the best ghost-writer of
speeches in this town.
Reproduction Rights Reserved)