Thursday, April 12, 2018

How did most Americans feel about FDR's Fireside Chats?

In March 1933, an announcer on CBS radio, Robert Trout, told the American people “the president wants to come into your home and sit at your fireside for a little fireside chat.” Over the 12 years, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt spoke to the public several times a year, with increasing frequency after the United States entered World War II. It is estimated that a half million people listened to the first chat, and as the number of radios in individual homes continued to increase so did the number of listeners. Many people wrote to the president, primarily to thank him but some to criticize; the volume of White House mail reached 10 times what it had been under President Hoover. Later evaluation has concluded that most Americans approved or greatly enjoyed the chats.
Because the chats covered a wide variety of topics over more than a decade, their reception, including the criticism, largely falls into three areas: the content, the intent, and the delivery or execution. President Roosevelt used the chats to promote the New Deal policies, which were often controversial as they involved the greatest amount to date of federal intervention in social policy. In addition, while those who approved of the chats appreciated the president’s direct speech to them, critics saw the chats as outright propaganda. Finally, the chats appeared casual but were actually carefully crafted: FDR’s writers not only rigorously fact-checked the content but also deliberately used easily understood words and encouraged him to speak slowly. FDR came from a wealthy, influential family, so it was actually a stretch to consider him one of the people, yet he made that effort.
https://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plans/lesson-1-fdrs-fireside-chats-power-words


When Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected as thirty-second president of the United States of America in November 1932, he faced the challenge of loosening the grips of the Great Depression on the nation. He effected programs and policies which provided security for the banking sector, employed many out-of-work people and facilitated the growth of local industries. Collectively these became known as the New Deal. FDR believed that it was essential for a leader to communicate with the proletariat and devised the Fireside Chats, down-to-earth addresses via radio. The intent of the addresses was to calm the American public and give them hope of better times to come; he did thirty Fireside Chats during his career. The public responded well to this effort, and the first broadcast was followed by fan mail from touched listeners. The Fireside Chats accomplished their purpose, being well-received and often reassuring listeners.
https://time.com/3731744/fdr-fireside-chat-banking/

https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/fdr-fireside

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