Throughout its almost 100 year history, the Federal Reserve and its operations have remained largely outside the daily concerns of most Americans. The world of high finance is one that is exclusive not only because of the dollar amounts involved, but also because of the technical language and conceptual understanding needed to comprehend the data itself. This thesis examines how the Federal Reserve has manufactured a misleading persona used to keep the public from accurately assessing its actual performance and the true beneficiaries of its efforts. Since the very beginnings of the Federal Reserve there has been a calculated attempt to mask its true purpose, which continues to this day. As the spread of information increases at a rapid pace via the Internet the Fed has been forced to add to its persona in order to deflect and dissipate growing public scrutiny. If the workings of the Federal Reserve are to be understood by the unsuspecting people who are hurt the most by its actions then the space between its manufactured persona and the reality of its historical record needs to be carefully examined and brought to light.
