FDR's First Fireside Chat

In 1999, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Texas A&M University asked 137 leading scholars of American public address to recommend American political speeches on the basis of social and political impact, and rhetorical artistry. From the responses, they compiled a list of the “top 100 American speeches of the 20th century.” It’s a fascinating compilation, and I’ll be highlighting speeches from the list from time to time on this page. Today I’ve selected FDR’s “First Fireside Chat” speech, which you may read here at American Rhetoric’s Online Speech Bank. FDR delivered this speech on 12 March 1933, on the heels of the “banking holiday” he instituted to temper a depression-induced run on U. S. banks. It’s an excellent example of a leader explaining a complex policy decision, its context, and its consequences, in simple terms via a clear and reasonable argument (an example from which every ERP project lead in the world should learn). His introductory paragraphs:

I want to talk for a few minutes with the people of the United States about banking -- to talk with the comparatively few who understand the mechanics of banking, but more particularly with the overwhelming majority of you who use banks for the making of deposits and the drawing of checks. 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. I recognize that the many proclamations from State capitols and from Washington, the legislation, the Treasury regulations, and so forth, couched for the most part in banking and legal terms, ought to be explained for the benefit of the average citizen. I owe this, in particular, because of the fortitude and the good temper with which everybody has accepted the inconvenience and hardships of the banking holiday. And 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.

After you’ve read the speech, listen to it in its entirety here. Not many people have heard FDR deliver his own rhetoric at length. I found hearing his first Fireside Chat in his own voice a remarkable … and somewhat haunting … experience.