Excerpt from "The First 'Fireside Chat': An Intimate Talk with the People of the United States on Banking, March 12, 1933"

Reprinted from The Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt: Volume Two, 1933
Published in 1938

"I owe this [radio talk with the people] in particular because of the fortitude [bravery] and good temper with which everybody has accepted the inconvenience and hardships of the banking holiday."

Franklin D. Roosevelt

In 1933 Americans did not have televisions in their homes. Radio was the most powerful means to transmit ideas and information, so President Franklin Roosevelt instituted his "fireside chats" via radio broadcast, the first one airing on Sunday evening, March 12, 1933. In his comforting, reassuring voice, he clearly explained the bank crisis and the actions he had...