Anton Freud - Anna Freud's nephew: As he grew older she became more and more important politically and scientifically but she didn't know when to stop. She was a bit too righteous that what she did was always the thing and she would never to my knowledge acknowledge that she could make a mistake or be wrong. That was my feeling.
But the power and influence of the Freud family in America was about to grow even more. Politicians were about to turn to Anna Freud's cousin Edward Bernays for help in a time of crisis. He was going to manipulate the inner feelings and fears of the masses to help Americas politicians fight the cold war.
In 1953 the Soviet Union exploded it's first hydrogen bomb and the fear of nuclear war and communism gripped the United States. Those in power became concerned with how to reassure the population. Committees were set up and public information films made appealing for calm in the face of new threats like nuclear fallout.
At this point Edward Bernays was living in New York. In the 1920s he had invented the profession of Public Relations and was now one of the most powerful PR men in America. He worked for most of the major corporations and advised politicians, including President Eisenhower. Like his uncle Sigmund, Bernays was convinced that human beings were driven by irrational forces. The only way to deal with the public was to connect with their unconscious desires and fears. Bernays argued that instead of trying to reduce people's fears of communism, one should actually encourage and manipulate the fear. And in such a way that it became a weapon in the cold war. Rational argument was fruitless.