Document Type

Other

Publication Date

2026

Abstract

Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office for his first term in March 1933. Within the first week of his presidency, he received nearly half a million letters from constituents who, amid the crisis of the Great Depression, reached out to voice their concerns to the new chief of state.1 On his eighth day in office, he addressed the unsettled American public by radio, marking the first of many Fireside Chats. Although Roosevelt was not the first president to use this medium to speak to the public—Warren G. Harding initiated this practice and both Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover continued it—his use of radio was arguably the most masterful.2 As more Americans purchased radios, radio ownership reached roughly forty percent in 1930 and doubled over the course of the decade.3 Radio ownership became more common for American families than having telephones, cars, electricity, or plumbing.4 Roosevelt’s Fireside Chats—the name itself evoking an image of warmth, comfort, and familiarity—allowed the President to open an intimate dialogue with the American public. By doing so, he also superseded the press as the principal intermediary between the federal government and its wide range of constituents. However, if other presidents used radio, why was Roosevelt’s use unique in its efficacy and range? An analysis of this shift in communication from the government allows for an understanding of how Roosevelt attained sway over and moderation of public opinion in a time of crisis, enabling the expansion of federal and presidential power. More broadly, though, this creates a bridge to understanding implications in the current age of social media, pertaining to the relationship between the message, mastery of the medium used to transmit it, and the resulting impact on the how the audience receives the message.

Publisher

South Dakota State University

Rights

Copyright © 2026 Ashlyn Goodall

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