Eric Allen Johnston (December 21, 1896 – August 22, 1963) was a business owner, president of the United States Chamber of Commerce, a moderate Republican Party activist, president of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), and a U.S. government special projects administrator and envoy for both Democratic and Republican administrations. As president of the MPAA he abbreviated the organization's name, convened the closed-door meeting of motion picture company executives at New York City's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel that led to Waldorf Statement in 1947 and the Hollywood blacklist, and discretely liberalized the production code while he served as president of the MPAA until his death in 1963.
Early life
An Episcopalian, 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."
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.
When the United States entered World War I, Johnston enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. He was commissioned a second lieutenant, and became a ROTC commander at the University of Washington in 1918. Then, he was promoted to captain, fought with the American Expeditionary Force Siberia in the Russian Revolution, and was named military attache in Peking. Johnston's learned some Mandarin, traveled widely in Asia, and successfully speculated in Chinese currency.
Johnston was assaulted by an unknown person in Peking. His skull was fractured, which led to sinus infections, lung ailments, and his discharged from the Corps in 1922 for medical reasons. Johnston returned to Spokane for 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.
Johnston was elected president of the Spokane Chamber of Commerce in 1931. He became managing trustee of the bankrupt Washington Brick and Lime Co., led it out of bankruptcy, and became its chairman. Johnston also became president of the Wayne-Burnaby Company, a regional electrical contractor.
Chamber of Commerce
Johnston 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. Johnston became head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce after a revolt by younger, moderate business executives pushed several older, powerful conservative candidates aside. He refused to antagonize the American Federation of Labor or the Congress of Industrial Organizations, and advocated labor-management cooperation. Johnston persuaded the labor federations to make a no-strike pledge during World War II.
In 1940, Johnston ran in the Republican primary for Senator from Washington state, but placed a distant 2nd place at 18%.
Johnston served on several wartime commissions for President Franklin D. Roosevelt, including the Committee for Economic Development, the War Manpower Commission, and the War Mobilization and Reconversion Committee.
In 1943, President 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.
Soviet leader Joseph Stalin invited Johnston to tour Russia in 1944. Johnston agreed, and Roosevelt named him his emissary. Johnston spent nearly a month in the Soviet Union, and was the first American diplomat to tour the Central Asian SSRs. He met with Stalin in a three hour long meeting when Ambassador W. Averell Harriman had yet to meet the Soviet premier.
Johnston retired as Chamber of Commerce president in 1945. He was awarded the Presidential Medal for Merit in 1947.
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.
The blacklist
Main article: Hollywood blacklistIn September 1947, the motion picture industry came under sharp criticism by the House Un-American Activities Committee for allegedly permitting known communist sympathizers 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.
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 that resulted in the Waldorf Statement. Johnston issued the two-page press release that marked the beginning of the "Hollywood blacklist."
Main article: Production CodeDuring his tenure at the MPAA, Johnston quietly liberalized the production code. He also engaged in major initiatives to secure a significant American market share of the overseas motion picture market, and to reduce restrictions on the screening of American films in foreign markets.
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.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed Johnston a "Special Representative of the President of the United States" to deal with the water conflict between Israel and Arab countries, mainly Jordan and Syria) in 1953. He worked to solve the Middle East's water problems negotiating the Jordan Valley Unified Water Plan until 1956.
Johnston traveled to the U.S.S.R. and met Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev in 1958. The following year, he hosted the Party Secretary in both Washington, D.C., and California during Khrushchev's famous 18-day visit to the United States in 1959.
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. He was succeeded at the MPAA by Jack Valenti in 1966 after a three-year search.
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.
Notes
- ^ Doherty, "A New Lobbyist to Represent Hollywood… Why They Need One," Boston Globe, July 8 2004.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Edgerton, "The Eric Johnston Story," The Pacific Northwesterner, Fall 1989.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Bachrach, "Eric Johnston Dies," New York Times, August 23, 1963.
- ^ a b "Surprise for Mr. Roosevelt," Time, June 29, 1942.
- ^ a b c d "Milestones," Time, August 30, 1963.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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;
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