Presidential Communication

By nethcurley

  • Washington

    1. Washington communicated with the public through the State of the Union address and was careful with how he crafted his speeches as the public was very wary of a central figure of power.
    2. Washington was the first president, so any type of communication was the first for a president.

  • Lincoln

    1. Lincoln began communicating with the telegraph, using it to communicate with generals across the country during the civil war. He was also able to use debates as a way to communicate directly to the public, most notably in the Lincoln Douglas debates,
    2. Washington never had the technology for the telegraph, and didn't have to debate for his presidential seat.

  • McKinley

    1. McKinley had a fun first: the first-ever filmed campaign commercial. This came in handy due to his action of never leaving home during the campaign process and allowing the people who wanted to see his speeches to come to him. This was due to him not wanting to leave his sick wife alone.
    2. Lincoln traveled during his campaign process, and never had the technology available to film a campaign commercial.

  • T. Roosevelt

    1. Roosevelt communicate heavily through the press, making use of what he called the "bully pulpit". He used this to communicate directly with the people, who would then pressure Congress into getting things done.
    2. McKinley did nothing of the sort, sticking to his ways of communicating with written State of the Union addresses.

  • F. Roosevelt

    1. FDR gave frequent addresses through his "Fireside Chats", which took advantage of the national use of the radio. This helped him publicly announce and talk about the plans to help the economy during the Great Depression.
    2. The last president to go national with his speeches was Woodrow Wilson, who physically traveled the country to deliver his State of the Union address in person.

  • JFK

    1. Kennedy's debates with Richard Nixon were broadcast live on television, a first for presidential debates Also first for presidential debates were the Kennedy-Nixon debates, s these were the first debates for the presidency.
    2. This was different from any presidency due to the technology of live broadcasting being available.

  • Clinton

    1. Clinton was the first president to send an email in the office, and famously played saxophone on a late-night talk show during his campaign, breaking a lot of formality barriers.
    2. Most presidents before him kept an aura of professionality during their campaign to impress the public and convince the public to elect them.

  • Obama

    1. Obama started the official POTUS Twitter account, created infographics to make information more easily accessible, and streamed his final State of the Union on YouTube.
    2. Clinton and Bush 2 were presidents during the digital age, but Obama truly used the internet to his advantage in delivering people information.

  • Trump

    1. President Trump tweeted numerous times during his presidency, saying whatever was on his mind at the time until his suspension in early 2021. This was innovative, as he was the first President to tweet out his own thoughts regularly, and not planned statements conceived by White House staff.
    2. Obama had a Twitter account but did not tweet thousands of times a year as President Trump did.