Did President Franklin D. Roosevelt's condemnation of electric utility public relations represent a fair interpretation of the findings of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigation into the electric utility industry as authorized by Senate Resolution 83 in February, 1928, or were Roosevelt's statements simply campaign hyperbole that met the political need for a villain to attack without risk in the anti-business climate of 1932? Roosevelt, drawing upon the FTC hearings, accused the utilities of planting lies and falsehoods in the newspapers--many of which were at least partially owned by the utilities. As the master politician that he was, Roosevelt carefully ignored the fact that the newspapers were willing accomplices, accepting public utility advertising and news releases. Of the eight accusations leveled by the FTC against electric utility public relations, only these four deserve serious reflection: (1) the deluge of news releases; (2) the syndicated editorial clip sheets with undisclosed utility sponsorship; (3) the size and scope of utility advertising; and (4) the combined weight of utility advertising and public relations in comparison to the efforts of public power advocates. Roosevelt's Portland speech denouncing utilities grossly misinterpreted the FTC's findings, and should be considered only campaign rhetoric. It was a master political stroke that diverted attention from the central issues of power generation and distribution to the peripheral question of public relations. (Thirty-nine notes are included and 14 sources are appended.) (RAE)