He used simple vocabulary and relied on folksy anecdotes or analogies to explain the often complex issues facing the country. In fact, Roosevelt took great care to make sure each address was accessible and understandable to ordinary Americans, regardless of their level of education. Journalist Robert Trout coined the phrase “fireside chat” to describe Roosevelt’s radio addresses, invoking an image of the president sitting by a fire in a living room, speaking earnestly to the American people about his hopes and dreams for the nation. They reached an astonishing number of American households, 90 percent of which owned a radio at the time. Roosevelt went on to deliver 30 more of these broadcasts between March 1933 and June 1944. The nation was worried, and Roosevelt’s address was designed to ease fears and to inspire confidence in his leadership. was at the lowest point of the Great Depression, with between 25 and 33 percent of the workforce unemployed. The banks would be reopening the next day, Roosevelt said, and he thanked the public for their “fortitude and good temper” during the “banking holiday.”Īt the time, the U.S. Roosevelt began that first address simply: “I want to talk for a few minutes with the people of the United States about banking.” He went on to explain his recent decision to close the nation’s banks in order to stop a surge in mass withdrawals by panicked investors worried about possible bank failures. Roosevelt gives his first national radio address-or “fireside chat”-broadcast directly from the White House. On March 12, 1933, eight days after his inauguration, President Franklin D.
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