Fireside chats is the term used to describe a series of 30 evening radio conversations (chats) given by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt between 1933 and 1944. Roosevelt spoke with familiarity to millions of Americans about the promulgation of the Emergency Banking Act in response to the banking crisis, the recession, New Deal initiatives, and the course of World War II. On radio, he was able to quell rumors and explain his policies. His tone and demeanor communicated self-assurance during times of despair and uncertainty. Roosevelt was one of radio's greatest communicators,[peacock term] and the fireside chats kept him in high public regard throughout his presidency.
The series of fireside chats was among the first 50 recordings made part of the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress, which noted it as "an influential series of radio broadcasts in which Roosevelt utilized the media to present his programs and ideas directly to the public and thereby redefined the relationship between the President and the American people."
Roosevelt understood that his administration's success depended upon a favorable dialogue with the electorate — possible only through methods of mass communication — and that the true power of the presidency was the ability to take the initiative. The use of radio for direct appeals was perhaps the most important of FDR's innovations in political communication.[1]:153 Roosevelt's opponents had control of most newspapers in the 1930s and press reports were under their control and involved their editorial commentary. Historian Betty Houchin Winfield says, "He and his advisers worried that newspapers' biases would affect the news columns and rightly so."[2] Historian Douglas B. Craig says that he "offered voters a chance to receive information unadulterated by newspaper proprietors' bias" through the new medium of radio.[3]
Roosevelt first used what would become known as fireside chats in 1929 as Governor of New York.[4] He faced a conservative Republican legislature, so during each legislative session he would occasionally address the residents of New York directly.[5] His third gubernatorial address—April 3, 1929, on WGY radio—is cited by Roosevelt biographer Frank Freidel as being the first fireside chat.[5]
In these speeches, Roosevelt appealed to radio listeners for help getting his agenda passed.[4] Letters would pour in following each of these addresses, which helped pressure legislators to pass measures Roosevelt had proposed.[6]
Fireside Chat 1 On the Banking Crisis
Roosevelt's first Fireside Chat on the Banking Crisis (March 12, 1933)
As President, Roosevelt began making the informal addresses on March 12, 1933, eight days after his inauguration. He had spent his first week coping with a month-long epidemic of bank closings that was ruining families nationwide.[7]:78 He closed the entire American banking system on March 6. On March 9 Congress passed the Emergency Banking Act, which Roosevelt used to effectively create federal deposit insurance when the banks reopened.[8] At 10 p.m. ET that Sunday night, on the eve of the end of the bank holiday, Roosevelt spoke to a radio audience of more than 60 million people, to tell them in clear language "what has been done in the last few days, why it was done, and what the next steps are going to be".[7]:78–79
The result, according to economic historian William L. Silber, was a "remarkable turnaround in the public's confidence ... The contemporary press confirms that the public recognized the implicit guarantee and, as a result, believed that the reopened banks would be safe, as the President explained in his first Fireside Chat." Within two weeks people returned more than half of the cash they had been hoarding, and the first stock-trading day after the bank holiday marked the largest-ever one-day percentage price increase.[8]
The term "fireside chat" was inspired by a statement by Roosevelt's press secretary, Stephen Early, who said that the president liked to think of the audience as a few people seated around his fireside. Listeners were able to picture FDR in his study, in front of the fireplace, and could imagine they were sitting beside him.[9]:57–58 The term was coined by CBS broadcast executive Harry C. Butcher of the network's Washington, D.C., office,[10] in a press release before the address of May 7, 1933.[11] The phrase has often been credited to CBS journalist Robert Trout, but he said he was simply the first person to use the it on the air.[12] The title was picked up by the press and public and later used by Roosevelt himself,[11] becoming part of American folklore.[10]
Roosevelt customarily made his address from the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House. He would arrive 15 minutes before air time to welcome members of the press, including radio and newsreel correspondents. NBC White House announcer Carleton E. Smith gave him a simple introduction: "Ladies and gentlemen, the president of the United States." Roosevelt most often began his talks with the words, "My friends" or "My fellow Americans", and he read his speech from a looseleaf binder.[10] Presidential advisor and speechwriter Samuel Rosenman recalled his use of common analogies and his care in avoiding dramatic oratory: "He looked for words that he would use in an informal conversation with one or two of his friends".[9]:58 Eighty percent of the words used were in the thousand most commonly used words in the English language.[6]
The radio historian John Dunning wrote that "It was the first time in history that a large segment of the population could listen directly to a chief executive, and the chats are often credited with helping keep Roosevelt's popularity high."[10]
Each radio address went through about a dozen drafts. Careful attention was also given to Roosevelt's delivery. When he realized that a slight whistle was audible on the air due to a separation between his two front lower teeth, FDR had a removable bridge made.[9]:58
FDR is regarded[by whom?] as one of the most effective communicators in radio history.[10] Although the fireside chats are sometimes thought of as weekly events, Roosevelt delivered just 30 addresses[6] during a presidency lasting 4,422 days.[14] He resisted those who encouraged him to speak on radio more frequently, as shown in his response to Russell Leffingwell after the address of February 23, 1942:
Franklin D. Roosevelt was in his second term as governor of New York when he was elected as the nation’s 32nd president in 1932. With the country mired in the depths of the Great Depression, Roosevelt immediately acted to restore public confidence, proclaiming a bank holiday and speaking directly to the public in a series of radio broadcasts or “fireside chats.” His ambitious slate of New Deal programs and reforms redefined the role of the federal government in the lives of Americans. Reelected by comfortable margins in 1936, 1940 and 1944, FDR led the United States from isolationism to victory over Nazi Germany and its allies in World War II. He spearheaded the successful wartime alliance between Britain, the Soviet Union and the United States and helped lay the groundwork for the post-war peace organization that would become the United Nations. The only American president in history to be elected four times, Roosevelt died in office in April 1945.
he brought the country out of a depression... his fireside chats let people know exactly what was going... he put in measures to try and stop anymore failures in the financial world.... he was/is a popular pres.... no matter your opinion.... but you people on the right always have a twisted view