FDR'S Fireside Chats

Title

FDR'S Fireside Chats

Description

President Franklin D. Roosevelt, commonly referred to as “FDR,”who took executive office in early 1933, would become the only president in American history to be elected to four consecutive terms. FDR would lead the nation through two of the greatest crises in its history—the Great Depression of the 1930s and World War II (1939-45)—and would exponentially expand the role of the federal government through his New Deal reform program and its legacy. From March 1933 to June 1944, Roosevelt addressed the American people in approximately 30 speeches broadcast via radio, speaking on a variety of topics - from banking, to unemployment, to fighting fascism in Europe. Millions of people found comfort and renewed confidence in these speeches, which came to be known as the “fireside chats.”


The fireside chats were a series of evening radio addresses given by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt (known colloquially as "FDR") 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 regarded as an effective communicator on radio, and the fireside chats kept him in high public regard throughout his presidency. The series of 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 President Roosevelt and the American people in 1933.

Creator

Unknown

Date

March 12 1933

Source

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/72/FDR-March-12-1933.jpg/807px-FDR-March-12-1933.jpg

https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/fireside-chats

Rights

National Records and Archives Administration

Publisher

National Records and Archives Administration

Contributor

National Records and Archives Administration
History.com Editors

Format

Photograph

Language

English

Type

Communication

Identifier

FDR, Fireside Chats, Radio, Great Depression, WWII, Historic

Coverage

United States

Files

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/72/FDR-March-12-1933.jpg/807px-FDR-March-12-1933.jpg

Reference

Unknown, FDR'S Fireside Chats, National Records and Archives Administration, March 12 1933

Cite As

Unknown, “FDR'S Fireside Chats,” Virtual Museum of Public Service, accessed March 28, 2024, https://vmps.omeka.net/items/show/685.