Civil War taught how to influence news media. It nearly cost Lincoln re-election

The idea of using news media to spin a narrative and push a political agenda is hardly new. The Confederate Secret Service used that strategy to try and defeat President Lincoln.

He bragged to Davis that his next goal was "the Democracy [the Democratic Party] having possession of the press." Among other initiatives, the Secret Service, according to one Confederate operative, sent tens of thousands of dollars to various Democrat news organizations.  Patrick K. O'Donnell is a bestselling, critically acclaimed military historian and an expert on elite units. He is the author of 13 books, including his forthcoming book on the Civil War: "The Unvanquished: The Untold Story of Lincoln’s Special Forces, the Manhunt for Mosby’s Rangers, and the Shadow War That Forged America’s Special Operations," to be released in May, 2024. O'Donnell served as a combat historian in a Marine rifle platoon during the Battle of Fallujah and often speaks on espionage, special operations, and counterinsurgency. He has provided historical consulting for DreamWorks' award-winning miniseries "Band of Brothers" and documentaries produced by the BBC, the History Channel, and Discovery. 

Deliberately opaque, the Confederate Secret Service was a real but unofficial hidden hand that lay behind these clandestine efforts to alter the course of the war. Various branches of the Secret Service attempted a number of techniques, including kidnapping officials, violence and trying to incite insurrection, but some believed using influence and money offered the best chance of success in stopping the war.