People have been complaining about the Smith-Mundt Act for years, but like that old joke about the weather, they never did anything about it.
That may be about to change.
The Smith-Mundt Act (originally known as The United States Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948) provided the underlying authorization for just about everything that we call public diplomacy today, from educational and cultural exchange programs to international broadcasting. Signed into law by President Truman in January, 1948, the legislation was driven by a growing realization at the beginning of the Cold War that the U.S. government needed to do a better job of explaining, defending, and advocating its policies in the face of relentless Communist propaganda overseas.