About a third of the talks were given on Sunday evenings. Most of the fireside chats were delivered by Roosevelt from the diplomatic reception room on the first floor of the White House, seated at a table loaded with microphones from the major radio networks. Although Roosevelt occasionally shared bad news in the fireside chats, their prevailing tone was patriotic, inspirational, and upbeat-the president of the United States trying, in his neighborly way, to encourage optimism, pride in America, and confidence in the future. The final eighteen talks (aired from September 1939 through January 1945) addressed the issues and dangers raised by the war in Europe and, once the United States entered, reported on the progress toward ultimate victory. The first thirteen of these radio talks (aired from March 1933 through July 1938) were devoted to domestic policy, explaining aspects of the New Deal and asking for political support for his various programs. I want to tell you what has been done in the last few days, and why it was done, and what the next steps are going to be." ItĪddressed the banking crisis, and the everyday language and easy tone of the opening sentences set the pattern for all the fireside chats that were to follow: "My friends, I want to talk for a few minutes with the people of the United States about banking-to talk with the comparatively few who understand the mechanics of banking, but more particularly with the overwhelming majority of you who use banks for the making of deposits and the drawing of checks. The first fireside chat was given on March 12, 1933, only a week after Roosevelt's inauguration. Roosevelt, who had experimented with this use of the radio when he was governor of New York, was a master of that form of communication he had a clear, bell-like voice and developed an unpretentious and good-humored style that endeared him to millions of Americans across the country. These speeches were intended to be relatively brief and informal reports to the American people, delivered in a conversational tone and in simple, unadorned language. The public, the press, and Roosevelt himself adopted the homey appellation, and the label stuck. During his twelve years as president, Franklin Roosevelt delivered thirty-one radio addresses called "fireside chats," a name coined in May 1933, immediately before the second of them, by Harry M.
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