Eric Johnston

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Eric Allen Johnston (December 21, 1896 – August 22, 1963) was president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a motion picture association executive and U.S. government administrator.

Contents

[edit] Early life

An Episcopalian,[1] Johnston was born "Eric Johnson" in Washington, D.C. His father, a pharmacist, moved the family to Marysville, Montana, when Johnston was a year old. In 1905, the family moved to Spokane, Washington. The Johnsons divorced in 1911, and Eric's mother, Ida, changed her and her son's last name to "Johnston."[2][3]

He attended the University of Washington, graduating in 1917 and joining the Theta Delta Chi fraternity. During this time, he worked as a stevedore, newspaper sports columnist, library clerk and shoe salesman.[2][3]

When the United States entered World War I, Johnston enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. He was commissioned a second lieutenant and in 1918 became ROTC commander at the University of Washington. He was promoted to captain, fought the American Expeditionary Force Siberia in the Russian Revolution, and was named military attache in Peking. He learned some Mandarin, traveled widely in Asia, and successfully speculated in Chinese currency.[2][4][3]

Johnston was beaten by an unknown assailant in Peking, and suffered a skull fracture. This led to sinus infections and lung ailments. He was discharged from the Corps in 1922 for medical reasons. He returned to Spokane because of its dry climate, and married his long-time girlfriend, Ina Hughes. He became a vacuum-cleaner salesman, and bought the Power Brown Co., the Pacific Northwest's largest independent appliance distribution business. In 1924, the newly-renamed Brown-Johnston Company purchased the Doerr-Mitchell Electric Co., a manufacturer of electrical appliances, ironwork and glassware.[3][2][5]

Johnston was elected president of the Spokane Chamber of Commerce in 1931.[2] Johnston became managing trustee of the bankrupt Washington Brick and Lime Co., and led it out of bankruptcy. He eventually became its chairman. He also became president of the Wayne-Burnaby Company, a regional electrical contractor.[3]

[edit] Chamber of Commerce

Johnston quickly became active in the national Chamber of Commerce. He was appointed to its tax committee in 1933, elected a director in 1934, and elected vice president in 1941. He became head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in 1942 after a revolt among younger business executives led several older, more powerful candidates to be bypassed. He refused to antagonize either the American Federation of Labor or the Congress of Industrial Organizations, and advocated labor-management cooperation. He was influential in getting both labor federations to make a no-strike pledge during World War II.[4][3]

He ran as the Republican candidate for Senator in 1940, but was defeated.[3]

Johnston served on a host of wartime commissions for President Franklin D. Roosevelt, including the Committee for Economic Development, the War Manpower Commission, and the War Mobilization and Reconversion Committee.[3]

In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt named him chairman of the United States Commission on InterAmerican Development. He traveled widely in Latin America, reassuring heads of state that the United States intended to protect them in the event of war.[2][3]

In 1944, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin invited Johnston to tour Russia. Johnston agreed, and Roosevelt named him his emissary. Johnston spent nearly a month in the U.S.S.R., was the first American diplomat to tour the Central Asian SSRs, and had a three hour long discussion with Stalin at a time when Ambassador W. Averell Harriman had yet to meet the Soviet premier.[6][2][3]

Johnston retired as Chamber of Commerce president in 1945. He was awarded the Presidential Medal for Merit in 1947.[3]

[edit] Head of the MPAA

Johnston was named president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors Association (MPPDAA) in 1946. He immediately changed the name of the organization to its current title, the Motion Picture Association of America, or MPAA.[2][3]

[edit] The blacklist

Main article: Hollywood blacklist

In September 1947, the motion picture industry came under sharp criticism by the House Un-American Activities Committee for allegedly permitting known communists to include anti-capitalist, anti-democratic, pro-communist messages in motion pictures. Spurred by Red-baiting members of the MPAA as well as a fear of government censorship, Johnston agreed to institute a blacklist.[7]

On November 25, 1947, Johnston was part of a closed-door meeting with 47 motion picture company executives at New York City's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. As a result, on November 25, Johnston issued the Waldorf Statement, a two-page press release that marked the beginning of the "Hollywood blacklist."[8]

Main article: Production Code

During his tenure at the MPAA, Johnston quietly liberalized the production code.[9][5] He also engaged in major initiatives designed to secure significant American market share of the overseas motion picture market and to reduce restrictions on the screening of American films in foreign markets.[10]

[edit] Government appointments

In January 1951, he was appointed by President Harry S. Truman as administrator of the Economic Stabilization Agency, replacing Alan Valentine. He lasted only a few months in the job.[2][11]

Johnston was appointed by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1953 as a "Special Representative of the President of the United States" (in the capacity of an ambassador) to deal with the water conflict between Israel and Arab countries (mainly Jordan and Syria). He continued to try to solve the Middle East's water problems until 1956.[5][2][3]

In 1958, Johnston traveled to the U.S.S.R. to meet with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, and in 1959 hosted the Party Secretary in both Washington, D.C., and California during Khrushchev's famous 18-day visit to the United States.[2][12]

[edit] Death

Eric Johnston served as president of the MPAA until his death in 1963. He suffered a stroke in Washington, D.C., on June 17. He was hospitalized at George Washington University Hospital, and suffered a second stroke on July 4. He entered a coma on August 5, and died on August 22.[13][3][5] He was succeeded at the MPAA by Jack Valenti in 1966 after a three-year search.[14]

[edit] Cultural references

Johnston is a key character in the play "The Waldorf Conference," written by Nat Segaloff, Daniel M. Kimmel and Arnie Reisman. The play is a fictionalized account of the Waldorf Conference of 1947, and the beginning of the blacklist.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Doherty, "A New Lobbyist to Represent Hollywood… Why They Need One," Boston Globe, July 8 2004.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Edgerton, "The Eric Johnston Story," The Pacific Northwesterner, Fall 1989.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Bachrach, "Eric Johnston Dies," New York Times, August 23, 1963.
  4. ^ a b "Surprise for Mr. Roosevelt," Time, June 29, 1942.
  5. ^ a b c d "Milestones," Time, August 30, 1963.
  6. ^ Lawrence, "Soviet Is Pictured As Big U.S. Market," New York Times, June 20, 1944; Reston, "Johnston Extols Soviet Peace Aim," New York Times, July 14, 1944.
  7. ^ "Movies Pledge Aid in Inquiry on Reds," New York Times, September 30, 1947; Tower, "Critics of Film Inquiry Assailed, Disney Denounces 'Communists'," New York Times, October 25, 1947; Tower, "Film Men Admit Activity By Reds," New York Times, October 21, 1947.
  8. ^ "Movies to Oust Ten Cited For Contempt of Congress," New York Times, November 26, 1947; "Film Leaders to Map Communist Policy," New York Times, November 25, 1947; "Film Industry to Ban 'Known Communists'," New York Times, November 22, 1947; "Asks Rule on Jobs for Communists," New York Times. November 20, 1947; Schary, Heyday: An Autobiography, 1979, pp. 164–67.
  9. ^ Canby, "A New Movie Code Ends Some Taboos," New York Times, September 21, 1966; "Old Movie Taboos Eased in New Code For Film Industry," New York Times, December 12, 1956.
  10. ^ In the post-World War II period, many nations placed limits on the number of foreign-produced films which could be shown. These restrictions were designed to promote domestic film production. But with Hollywood producing far more motion pictures than most of the world combined, these restrictions severely limited foreign distribution of American films. See Zeiler, Free Trade, Free World: The Advent of GATT, 1999; "Heads Film Export Unit," Associated Press, October 2, 1945.
  11. ^ Loftus, "Johnston Is Named Stabilizing Chief," New York Times, January 20, 1951; "Johnston Leaving Defense Job Nov. 30," New York Times, November 16, 1951.
  12. ^ Frankel, "U.S., Soviet Agree to Film Exchange," New York Times, October 10, 1958; Schumach, "Khrushchev Sets Hollywood Agog," New York Times, September 10, 1959.
  13. ^ "Eric Johnston Has Stroke," Associated Press, July 5, 1963; "Eric Johnston in Coma," Associated Press, August 5, 1963.
  14. ^ Crowther, "New Czar on the Job," New York Times, May 1, 1966.

[edit] References

  • "Asks Rule on Jobs for Communists." New York Times. November 20, 1947.
  • Bachrach, Fabian. "Eric Johnston Dies." New York Times. August 23, 1963.
  • Canby, Vincent. "A New Movie Code Ends Some Taboos." New York Times. September 21, 1966.
  • "The Censors." Time. January 11, 1954.
  • Crowther, Bosley. "New Czar on the Job." New York Times. May 1, 1966.
  • Dart, Peter. "Breaking the Code: A Historical Footnote." Cinema Journal. 8:1 (Autumn 1968).
  • Doherty, Thomas. "A New Lobbyist to Represent Hollywood… Why They Need One." Boston Globe. July 8 2004.
  • Edgerton, Ralph A. "The Eric Johnston Story." The Pacific Northwesterner. 33:4 (Fall 1989).
  • "Eric Johnston Has Stroke." Associated Press. July 5, 1963.
  • "Eric Johnston in Coma." Associated Press. August 5, 1963.
  • "Film Industry to Ban 'Known Communists.'" New York Times. November 22, 1947.
  • "Film Leaders to Map Communist Policy." New York Times. November 25, 1947.
  • Frankel, Max. "U.S., Soviet Agree to Film Exchange." New York Times. October 10, 1958.
  • "From the Word Factory." Time. January 31, 1949.
  • "Heads Film Export Unit." Associated Press. October 2, 1945.
  • "Johnston Leaving Defense Job Nov. 30." New York Times. November 16, 1951.
  • Lawrence, W.H. "Soviet Is Pictured As Big U.S. Market." New York Times. June 20, 1944.
  • Loftus, Joseph A. "Johnston Is Named Stabilizing Chief." New York Times. January 20, 1951.
  • "Milestones." Time. August 30, 1963.
  • "Movies Pledge Aid in Inquiry on Reds." New York Times. September 30, 1947.
  • "Movies to Oust Ten Cited For Contempt of Congress." New York Times. November 26, 1947.
  • "Old Movie Taboos Eased in New Code For Film Industry." New York Times. December 12, 1956.
  • "'Political' Blacklisting in the Motion Picture Industry: A Sherman Act Violation." Yale Law Journal. 74:3 (January 1965).
  • Reston, James B. "Johnston Extols Soviet Peace Aim." New York Times. July 14, 1944.
  • Schary, Dore. Heyday: An Autobiography. Boston: Little, Brown, 1979.
  • Schumach, Murray. "Khrushchev Sets Hollywood Agog." New York Times. September 10, 1959.
  • "Surprise for Mr. Roosevelt." Time. June 29, 1942.
  • Tower, Samuel A. "Critics of Film Inquiry Assailed, Disney Denounces 'Communists'." New York Times. October 25, 1947.
  • Tower, Samuel A. "Film Men Admit Activity By Reds." New York Times. October 21, 1947.
  • Zeiler, Thomas W. Free Trade, Free World: The Advent of GATT. Wilmington, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press, 1999. ISBN 0807824585

[edit] External links

Preceded by
William H. Hays		 Chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America
1945-1963		 Succeeded by
Jack Valenti
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