Fireside Chats

FDR’s Fireside Chats

At a time when there was no television

Once upon a time, there was no TV and no internet. People had limited access to the American president. His image was not instantly recognizable and his voice was known to few. How then, at a time of national crisis (the Great Depression), could the president address the nation?

The best way to communicate with the most people in the 1930s was through the radio. In a series of what came to be known as the “Fireside Chats,” President Roosevelt addressed the nation to talk them through the Great Depression. He addressed people’s fears about the banking crisis and used it to explain New Deal policies.

The radio allowed FDR to speak directly with the American people. From 1933-1944 families would gather ‘round the radio at 10:00PM EST to listen to the president speak.

On Sunday March 12, 1933

president Roosevelt

delivered his first

Fireside Chat

to calm the nation’s

fears about the

banking crisis .

"I never saw him - but I knew him. Can you have forgotten how, with his voice, he came into our house, the President of these United States, calling us friends..." - Carl Carmer, April 14, 1945

Roosevelt encouraged the public to talk to him by sending letters to the White House. People responded and what resulted was a national dialogue between the president and the public about the state of the union during the Great Depression.