Franklin Delano Roosevelt And The Fireside Chat

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During Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s presidency, he devised a way to communicate directly to the public through the fireside chats. The goal of the fireside chats was to effectively communicate to the American people without any media influence. This helped paint F.D.R. as genuine and personal because people could listen to him on their brand-new radios right inside their own living rooms. The fireside chats were very informative and F.D.R. talked about the challenges facing the country and what he planned to do to combat these problems. One of the first things F.D.R. did was put the banks on holiday and slowly reintroduce them when sound. This idea was met with a lot of anger and confusion, so F.D.R. got onto the radio and explained why he did what he did. In his very first fireside chat and one of his most …show more content…

We have provided the machinery to restore our financial system; it is up to you to support and make it work” (Roosevelt). F.D.R. used his charm and his skill in public speaking to help reassure the public during one of the most depressing and hard times in American history. The fireside chats gave F.D.R. a chance to explain his complex policies and help inspire change across the country. People loved the authenticity of the concept and it proved to be a big hit. These speeches helped advance the widespread of the radio, as it became essential for every home to have one (“The Fireside Chats”). I believe that the fireside chats were very successful and achieved F.D.R.’s goals. They help establish Roosevelt as a trustworthy leader and gave him the ability to speak his mind freely. He was honest and open with his new policies which provided a new presidential trait of transparency that is highly sought after today. They also increased public support for his policies when the supreme court was shutting down many of his New Deal ideas. After constant public pressure, the supreme court allowed F.D.R. to pass some of his