Barack Obama and the Lessons of Franklin Roosevelt
By Robert Schlesinger, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
Barack Obama, according to today's Times, has studied FDR's first 100 days, seizing on the idea that Roosevelt had a "conversation with the American public." This is both smart and foreseeable—but he needs to recognize his and the strategy's limitations. To understand why, ask yourself how often FDR gave his famed fireside chats. The answer, which I'll give below, may surprise you.
It's smart because of the obvious historical parallels—a Democratic president taking office at a time of economic crisis and accompanying national psychological distress. It's foreseeable because Obama's speech-giving skill is his greatest asset.
But there are a few things he and we should keep in mind. The president-elect is well known for his ability to deliver a speech to a large crowd with mesmerizing power. The extent to which he can master the more informal style FDR invented in his fireside chats, an ability to emotionally connect with individuals, will tell a lot about how much Obama is able to match Roosevelt.
More important is the frequency with which the president-elect plans to have his conversation with the American people. Obama plans, according to the Times , to "pack his schedule with interviews, speeches, news conferences and limited travel to try to rally public support behind the [stimulus] effort." This is smart given the urgency of the economic situation.
But let's come back to FDR's fireside chats. They are rightly famous, but how often did he give them? Weekly? Monthly? The answer is that he never gave more than four fireside chats in any one year.
FDR, like his successors who have the keenest grasp of how to use the bully pulpit, understood its power but also its limitations. You can go to that well only so often before a presidential appearance or address stops being an Event and just blends into the already overloaded television-infotainment landscape.
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Tags: President | Barack Obama | Franklin Delano Roosevelt
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Obama vs Roosevelt
Four fireside chats by President Roosevelt were national talks as long as you had a radio. President Obama has given three, maybe four, talks to the nation and it is September. I don't think he is over-exposing himself. He is just covered by the media more than Roosevelt was and he is always warmly greeted wherever he goes. He has talks with small groups as he goes around the country. Roosevelt didn't travel the way modern Presidents have since he waa President, and those who didn't want, or couldn't do a good job (Bush) would rather not speak in public. How Bush was ever elected President in the first place....the son of a former President and a first term governor of Texas, where he promised to remain in office while he was preparing to run for the presidency? We don't always elect the right man. This time we did. Republicans so easily forget the 8 years he was in office and what a mess he left behind.
Obama
you should leagalize bud :]
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