Confident, Calm, Reassuring

The name of the game in "First Fireside Chat" is building confidence.

FDR's central goal is to create a sense of trust among the American people, so that the country can begin to stabilize and heal. Roosevelt speaks in a calm manner, and uses choice phrases like "my friends" (1, 73) and "together we cannot fail" (74) to connect with his listeners. He confidently claims that we will "banish fear" (71) and makes promises about the future.

Importantly, FDR also admits that things have gone wrong, and that mistakes have been made. Big time.

Such admissions help with the reassuring tone, because the people admire him for acknowledging faults…as well as (obviously) putting forth a plan for fix those issues.