8/18/2020
The Politics of Postal Reform Have Always Been Part of USPS History
Rounduptags: Richard Nixon, Postal Service, USPS
Ryan Ellis is Assistant Professor of Communication Studies at Northeastern University and a previous recipient of the United States Postal Service’s Moroney Award for Scholarship in Postal History. He is the author of Letters, Power Lines, and Other Dangerous Things: The Politics of Infrastructure Security and co-editor of Rewired: Cybersecurity Governance.
Fifty years ago, President Richard Nixon signed into law the Postal Reorganization Act, the landmark law that created the United States Postal Service (USPS). The law walked a difficult tightrope—creating a postal network that operated as both a business and public service. Today, as the fate of the USPS hangs in the balance, we’re featuring an excerpt from “Letters, Power Lines, and Other Dangerous Things: The Politics of Infrastructure Security” that looks back at the creation of the USPS and reveals how it transformed postal politics for good — and for ill.
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