This study unpacks the history of Verdi's composition from its creation, performance, and publication in the 1860s through its appropriation as social and political commentary and its perception by American broadcast media as a 'weapon of art' in the mid-twentieth century. The project also offers the first fully documented study of the performances, radio broadcast, and filming of the work by conductor Arturo Toscanini during World War II. In presenting new evidence about ways in which Verdi's music was appropriated by expatriate Italians and the US government for cross-cultural propaganda, it addresses the intertwining of Italian and American culture with regard to art, politics, and history.