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Louis Armstrong in Düsseldorf As one of its Cold War weapons, the United States sent representatives of American culture abroad. Jazz was especially popular around the world, and the State Department sponsored tours by black jazz artists in part to counter the image of the United States as a racist nation. Louis Armstrong, the great trumpet player, singer, and jazz innovator, is shown here captivating a German crowd in 1952.
AP Photo/Albert Gillhausen.