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Washington
Washington avoided any shows of "despotism" in his inaugural speech and set the precedent for speeches. Because he was the first of a kind, he knew that the American people would read his speeches in the newspaper. -
Lincoln
Both Lincoln's debates and speeches were printed and distributed. Furthermore, Lincoln installed a telegraph office right next to the White House. This was a significant change from Washington as it furthered the line of direct communication from the White House/President to the people. -
McKinley
With McKinley's presidency came the ability to film the inauguration. This direct "re-enactment" of the inauguration would have been an even more effective way for the people to see what was going on with the President. A total change from only being able to read transcripts of speeches from Presidents. -
Theodore Roosevelt
Roosevelt was able to come up with "catchy slogans." These slogans were the way that Roosevelt communicated with the public, as they were popular in newspapers because slogans help sell. Where McKinley communicated through the revolutionary film, Roosevelt communicated through his popular sayings. -
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
FDR's main mode of communication during the war was radio. His fireside chats were almost guaranteed to be playing in every household. It was a way for the president to speak directly to the American people, instead of speaking to other officials and having that message relayed to the people. -
Kennedy
John F. Kennedy was able to win the Presidential election against Richard Nixon because of the popularity of the new television. Comparisons of their looks, Kennedy representing someone younger and stronger and Nixon representing someone older and more "fragile," is often named as one of the causes for Kennedy's win. This took FDR's radio communication even further because the public could not only be directly addressed by the president through live audio, but also through visuals. -
Clinton
In the 90's, electronic mail was a new form of communication. President Clinton utilized this new mode to send the first presidential email from the first presidential email address. This type of communication was not used to correspond with the public, but instead showed the President's relevancy and ability to stay up-to-date on new technology. It differed from Kennedy's T.V. communication in that it was once again text. No fancy audios, or visuals, just typed words sent through a computer. -
Obama
With the popularization of email and other electronic social sites came Twitter. In 2009, Obama became the first President with a Twitter account. Like many other social media platforms, Twitter originally served as a place to display updates about one's life. This differed from email in that it was not a direct correspondence between officials, it was a way to show the Public what was going on. -
Trump
Trump is credited with being the first president who was an active user of Twitter during his presidency. Instead of using it as a place to update the public, he provided his opinions and often used Twitter as a personal insight into his life as opposed to a professional one.