The Great Depression
Throughout his presidency, Roosevelt utilized his rhetoric, position, and popular multimedia of the time to reach out to the demoralised American people, causing an uplift in national spirit, despite the perilous circumstances of the Great Depression. Roosevelt spoke to the hearts and minds of the citizens, bringing hope and peace to a restless nation at the mercy of the Great Depression. In connecting with the American people, Roosevelt broke tradition, appearing in person in Chicago to accept the nomination and famously pledging himself to “a new deal for the American people” (History.com, 2009).
Roosevelt also adopted new ways of communicating with the nation by broadcasting many of his speeches and addresses under his ‘Fireside Chats’ through radio, the most popular and common media outlet of the time. These Fireside Chats established a strong connection between the American people and their president, and provided explanation for the New Deal policies, the Bank Holiday, and later gave updates of the war involvement. Mark Wills, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology student and speaker at the Media in Transition Conference, expressed the connection that Roosevelt had through his use of radio, “Live broadcasts of his Fireside Chats brought his familiar voice into millions of American homes.” (Wills, 2013).
"We have nothing to fear but fear itself" ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
(Wills, 2013)
The Historical Channel claimed that Roosevelt, while he worked with speeches, took an active role in creating the scripts for his Fireside Chats, dictating early drafts and near memorising revised versions (History.com, 2010). The Chats were broadcast from the White House Diplomatic Room, and were intentionally simple to be understood by the general public. TIME Reporter, Jennifer Latson, claimed the value of these Chats as being the “most effective tactic used to soothe the panicked public since the beginning of the Great Depression.” (Latson, 2015). FDR’s Chats created an essential bond with his audience, the American people, using inclusive language such as “my friends” and referred to the American people as “you” in order to make the addresses more personal. After Roosevelt’s first Fireside Chat explaining the Banking Holiday he was swamped with fan mail, averaging at 50,000 letters a week, compared to the 5,000 letters Herbert Hoover, the former president received weekly (Latson, 2015).
In FDR’s Annual Message to Congress on the State of the Union, in June 1941, he inspired the struggling people by instilling the ideals and hope of the four freedoms: of speech and expression, every person to worship God in their own way, from want, and from fear (FDR Presidential Library1, 1941). By making reference to the principles of freedom, FDR stirred national pride and encouraged the American people to persist through the difficult struggles ahead with patience, understanding, and faith, “Freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere.” (History.com, 2010 & FDR Presidential Library1, 1941)
Despite the struggles and hardships of the Great Depression, Roosevelt managed to encourage the demoralised American people through the use of his Fireside Chats and the Four Freedoms, which evidently had a large large impact on increasing public morale.