Fireside Chats

Fireside chats were radio addresses (aired from 1933 to 1945) made famous by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Although the chats were initially meant to garner Americans' support for Roosevelt's New Deal policies, they eventually became a source of hope and security for all Americans. The chats were influential in reformulating the American social imaginary from one of despair to one of hope during a time of multiple crises, including the Great Depression and World War II. Fireside chats reinforced the importance of broadcast media and the use of common, everyday language when addressing the American people.

Unlike U.S. presidents before him, Roosevelt understood the importance of radio as a medium and first used it to pressure the New York state legislature during his governorship from 1928 ...