The Nation’s First Presidential Press Secretary: Ray Stannard Baker and the “Real Work of Publicity”

American journalist Ray Stannard Baker is primarily remembered by historians as one of early twentieth century’s most accomplished muckrakers. This paper argues that Baker deserves another important distinction. He qualifies as the nation’s first presidential press secretary. More important, in his role as chief spokesman for President Woodrow Wilson during the Paris Peace Conference at the end of World War I, Baker set an exceptionally high standard by viewing himself as an agent of democratic discourse. Baker believed he was not only obliged to explain what the president was doing but to advocate for and assist the press. In their focus on Wilson’s fraught relationship with the press in Paris, scholars have overlooked Baker’s innovative solutions and the standard he set as the first presidential press secretary.