Coca-Cola under the Aegis of US Government

… And it began with a vision, of a world of Coke ‘The story of Coca-Cola speaks to me because it opens up a window on world historical processes that are now glossed as globalization, processes that include not only business operations in a world market but also cultural, political and environmental processes that most people experience.’ Inspired from the words of Robert J. Foster, this thesis focuses on a very particular process, which includes Coca-Cola and the US government. Analytically, this paper analyzes the lobbying effort of The Coca-Cola Company, which was waged towards the US government in the turbulent postwar period (between 1945 and 1948) aiming to support Coca-Cola global activities. Since Coke is a microcosm of American History, this study can be said to be a microcosm of American Lobbying history. In addition, current research constitutes a case study of analyzing international relations by implementing a liberal perspective. According to Coca-Cola prominent persona, Robert Winship Woodruff ‘one of the most vital assets to selling Coca-Cola, as well as keeping his organization out of difficulty of one kind or another, lay … with the politicians.’ As it is discussed, using primary and secondary sources and prominently archives from Emory University, Georgia, Coke had great relations with politicians and governors all over the world. It was either those relations or the absence of serious problems abroad that ensured a secure position for Coke for the first postwar years, without the need to petition the US government for it. Moreover, the analysis proved that Coke eagerly manipulated the US government in hazard and extreme situations, such as the problems it faced in postwar-France. All of the conclusions were discussed extensively and were based on a variety of primary and secondary sources. Nevertheless, the denial of access to The Coca-Cola Company Archives, as well as the cost for acquiring some further primary sources belong to the limitations of the study and further research should be contacted for business lobbying by Coca-Cola as well as lobbying from other corporations. Constance L. Hays, The Real Thing (New York: Random House, 2004), xii Robert J. Foster, Coca Globalization (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008), xii. Pendergrast, For God, Country and Coca – Cola, 9. Elliot, Mr. Anonymoous, 225.