First Fireside Chat: Main Idea
First Fireside Chat: Main Idea
Go on the radio, calm down a nation ready to riot, explain the problem, and give a solution.
Piece of cake, right? Sure: if you're FDR.
Franklin Roosevelt accomplishes more in this fourteen-minute speech than most people accomplish over a lifetime (insane accomplishments were kind of his thing). Oh yeah: and he gains the trust and approval of the American people in the process.
Yeah. We'd hate ol' Delano for being an overachiever…except for the fact that he saved America's bacon on a couple of occasions and managed to be an all-around sweetie pie.
Oh yeah: and an awesome orator.
His radio speech explains in clear, simple terms how the American banking system works and how it will be fixed. He reassures the public that their money will return. He lays out a plan to get money flowing back into the economy through the banks. And he throws in a whole heap of confidence and soothing phrases to boot.
Fourteen minutes well spent, sir.
Questions
- Is it really possible to calm an entire nation with a single fourteen-minute radio speech? If so, how?
- What is the connection between the banking system and all of the other financial problems of the Great Depression?
- What specific tactics does FDR employ as he tries to win over the American people in this confidence-boosting speech?
- Using this speech as an example, how does FDR compare to other American leaders at different times of crisis in U.S. history?
Chew On This
In "First Fireside Chat," President Franklin Delano Roosevelt calmed and reassured a nation through the use of radio by employing clear, simple language and reinforcing a sense of community.
FDR's "First Fireside Chat" helped lead America out of the Great Depression by calming the public, educating them on the American banking system, and reassuring them that their money would return.
Quotes
Quote #1
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. (3)
The name of the game is transparency. By choosing to begin his speech with a clear explanation, FDR is inviting the American public in. He is laying out the plan to fix the banks, to get the country back on track. This transparency will be a pattern throughout the speech. Just like your Language Arts teachers told you, it's always smart to be clear and straightforward in your writing.
Quote #2
[…] I know that when you understand what we in Washington have been about, I shall continue to have your cooperation as fully as I have had your sympathy and your help during the past week. (6)
See? The pattern of transparency continues. But notice how FDR takes it one step further—he is asking for Americans' cooperation, help, and sympathy. This openness is part of FDR's brilliance as a speaker and a leader. He is humbling himself by asking for help, and that makes people recognize that he is struggling too. FDR intelligently gets the public on his side in this speech, and he does so by not seeming aloof or above the problems facing his people.
Quote #3
Your Government does not intend that the history of the past few years shall be repeated. We do not want and will not have another epidemic of bank failures. (32)
Ever heard the quote "those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it?"
Well so had Franklin Roosevelt. He's well aware that a major fear of the public is that the economic crash they just experienced would happen again. Notice his powerful word choice with "epidemic." He's comparing the bank disaster to a disease—he's showing the American public that he knows it seems like a situation about as horrific as the Black Plague.
Quote #4
[…] it is my belief that hoarding during the past week has become an exceedingly unfashionable pastime in every part of our nation. (45)
Hoarding? Gross.
But FDR wasn't talking about the kind of hoarding that leads to shows like Dang, That's Way Too Many Cats—er, we mean Hoarders. He was talking about hoarding money specifically: literally hiding cash in a shoebox under your bed. Without going too far into Economics 101, just know that money is less productive if it's sitting around. In a bank it can be loaned out to help people buy things, which is great for a country's economy.
Quote #5
It is your problem, my friends, your problem no less than it is mine. Together we cannot fail. (73)
Clever man, Mr. Roosevelt. With these closing lines he paints himself as a common man. He's one of us. He's struggling and holding on to hope just like the rest. This chummy word choice does wonders to get the public on his side.