President Communication Timeline

By Rithek

  • George Washington

    George Washington gave his State of the Union speech to Congress. Because America had just fought against a tyrant king, Washington was careful to not give any strong suggestions on topics.

  • Abraham Lincoln

    Lincoln had many ways he interacted with the public. First he held debates with his political opponent Stephen Douglass. Next, he was very influential through written word. Lincoln was the first president to install a telegraph office right next to the White House. This was different from Washington in that Lincoln openly advocated for his policies through a variety of channels.

  • William McKinley

    McKinley publicized himself through filming a reenactment of himself receiving the Republican administration nomination. This was different from Lincoln in that McKinley added a visual component as well.

  • Teddy Roosevelt

    TR had a knack for catchy slogans and quips that could make it into the newspaper and political cartoonists. TR used the newspaper to voice his opinions much more than previous presidents, partially due to the newspaper's growth during his presidency.

  • FDR

    FDR was famous for his fireside chats, where he talked about the health of the nation through the radio. While previous presidents like Coolidge did use the radio, FDR had the right voice and tone for radio, which made the fireside chats very popular.

  • JFK

    JFK and Nixon debated for the 1960 election, but due to JFK's more healthy appearance on television, he won out. While previous presidents like Truman did use television, JFK was the first president to use it to win the White House.

  • Bill Clinton

    Clinton had 2 AOL email accounts. However, he rarely used his presidential email. Presidents never used email before. Clinton also changed the formality of how people ran for president by playing his saxophone on a TV show.

  • Obama

    Obama was the first president to use Twitter, but he didn't compose his own tweets. However, this brought the office of the president much closer to the people.

  • Trump

    Trump was the first president to compose and send thousands of tweets, which decreased the ever-shrinking gap between the people and the office of the president.