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President FDR’s
Fireside Cha
t Speeches
In
The People’s President
book chapter, Roscigno and Danaher note
that President Franklin D. Roosevelt used a sequence of evening radio talks
commonly referred to as
fireside chats
to address Americans. President FDR
was highly considered as an efficient communicator on radio and he often
used
fireside chats
, which in turn kept him on high public popularity
throughout his reign as president of the United States. His adoption of radio,
at an era when it was emerging as the novel and ideal form of
entertainment, aided him to explain his position as one of the most
prominent media public figures. The chapter further records that the rise of
FDR to the presidency and national celebrity, together with his
implementation of radio to reach downgraded working-class populaces and
to evade more domestic authority bases, undeniably allowed him to bring
injustices and workplace concerns to the state program (41). His fireside
chats on radio reached the households of most Americans at an important
economic era, stimulating confidence that the citizenry would warranty and
alleviate its way of life (Roscigno and Danaher 44). Various
fireside chats
on
the radio justify why President FDR’s listeners were inspired and gained
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confidence in such a crucial economic time when the nation was recovering
from the great depression.
President FDR's
fireside chats
on the radio were relaxed and informal,
which made his listeners, the Americans to feel that he was directly speaking
to them. President FDR used these approaches since he was voted into office
in 1932, and the following year the world suffered the Great Depression
during his reign in office as the United States President. As the president, he
needed to move the US out of the Great Depression as well as to restore the
confidence of Americans. FDR’s first
fireside chat
was
On the Bank Crisis
,
which he made on March 12, 1933. He used various communication
techniques to inspire confidence in Americans in this chat. FDR started with a
very warm technique of capturing the attention of his listeners since he
opened the chat by stating that he wished to spend a few minutes talking
with the American people concerning banking. With these opening remarks,
every listener felt that the president was directly talking to him or her. FDR
then explained in the initial decision of closing the country's banks was
meant at stopping a surge in bulk withdrawals by panicked capitalizers who
were anxious about likely bank failures. These statements enabled
Americans to understand that the president closed the banks for the better
good of the entire country. FDR then stated that banks would be reopened in
the next day and thanked Americans for their proper temper and fortitude
during the period when they could not access their bank accounts. Doing this
inspired confidence among Americans since they knew that banks would be
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opened the next day and they would be able to access their bank accounts
and finances the following day. Further in this chat, FDR referred to the
period when the banks were closed as
banking holiday
, to imply that the
American financial institutions were just in a temporary closure. These words
inspired confidence among the Americans who thought that the American
banks had failed due to the Great Depression.
While addressing the nation
On the Currency Situation
chat, FDR
started by reminding his listeners that since the last time he talked about the
American problems, three months earlier, things had remarkably changed
and that some of the resolutions he talked about were improving the live of
the average citizens. FDR purposely used this opening technique to inspire
confidence to Americans that the resolutions he was adopting to take the
country out of the Great Depression were effective and working already. Also,
stating that the approaches he had initiated early in resolving American
problems were greatly aiding the average people creates a sense of hope
that the entire nation will soon recover from the depression. The president
then continued with the chat by stating that every action the government
was taking was considering the average people, who were the majority at
that time. Precisely, FDR stated that the government was taking action
thinking in terms of "the greatest good to the greatest number." Mentioning
that the government was apprehensive about the average people, the
majority in the population created hope and confidence among numerous
Americans. People knew that the FDR administration was acting to help them
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recover from depression and be economically stable once again. FDR also
acknowledged the contribution that was made by citizens themselves to help
stabilize the American currency such as cooperation of the tobacco farmers
of the Southeast, the wheat farmers of the west, and the cotton
agriculturalists in the south. Acknowledging the efforts of the common citizen
was an inspiration to many people since they knew that with the continued
cooperation between the government and the public, the economy will
stabilize once again and the American currency will gain strength again.
On his
On Drought Condition
chat, FDR inspired confidence among his
listeners mainly, farmers by reporting what he saw during his journey to
various farms in states that were greatly impacted by the 1936 famine. He
mentioned that he went on the husbandry trip to witness how efficiently local
and federal administrations were countering the pressing challenges of relief
as well as how they will work collaboratively to safeguard Americans against
future famines. These sentiments enabled the listeners to comprehend that
the issue of the drought was been effectively addressed by both state and
federal governments and that these administrations aimed to come up with a
solution that will prevent drought in the future. With this warranty, FDR
efficiently inspired confidence among the American people that the country
would not suffer a similar drought in the years to come. FDR’s words on this
chat suggested that the local and federal administrations were working
collaboratively to determine a program of averting droughts or helping
people survive during famines.
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To reinstate his role in protecting America from external invasion,
President FDR issued the
On National Security
chat on the radio. The
president spent more than half an hour on the radio to persuade Americans
on the importance of American involvement in global violence. The purpose
of this chat was to inspire confidence among Americans that the only way
the country would stay safe was to get involved in the global conflict. He
stated that if Great Britain would be defeated by the Axis, the Axis authority
would be extended to all other continents making it more powerful. FDR
further urged his listeners that to remain secure, the government would
manufacture more guns, ships, and other weapons as well as be adequately
prepared for the enemy. These strategies enabled FDR's listeners to perceive
that the government was making remarkable efforts to secure America and
its allies in the wake of global conflict in 1940.
President FDR took advantage of the developed radio to reach all
Americans, mainly to address his plans to solve problems that were arising
after the Great Depression. He primarily used chats that were commonly
referred to as
fireside chats
to address the nation on all his strategies that
were formulated to deal with emerging problems such as security threats,
drought, and economic concerns. The president adopted various
communication techniques on these
fireside chats
to inspire confidence
among his listeners that all problems would be resolved. He made the
fireside
chats
so relaxed and informal that his listeners would feel that he
was directly talking to them.
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Works Cited
The museum, Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Libary and. Fireside Chats Of
Franklin D. Roosevelt. 12 July 2020. 12 July 2020
<http://docs.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/firesi90.html>.
Roscigno, Vincent J., and William F. Danaher. "The People's President." The
Voice of Southern Labor: Radio, Music, and Textile Strikes, 1929-1934.
Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2004. 32-45.
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