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Franklin D. Roosevelt's radio addresses reached millions of Americans.
Microphone from CBS, one of the networks that covered Roosevelt's "fireside chats"
Audio

"Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Back Again"
Franklin D. Roosevelt campaign song
©Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

Audio

"One-Third of A Nation"
From American History in Ballad and Song
© Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

FDR's Desk Microphone
1933-45

The fireside chats of the 1930s
President Franklin D. Roosevelt used this radio microphone to deliver his famous "fireside chats." Between March 12, 1933, and January 6, 1945, Roosevelt gave 31 fireside chats to bolster the country's morale during the Great Depression and World War II. Many Americans felt as if he were speaking to them personally. "Last evening as I listened to the President's broadcast," wrote one man in March 1933, "I felt that he walked into my home, sat down and in plain and forceful language explained to me how he was tackling the job."

Notes
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, born January 30, 1882, Hyde Park, NY; died April 12, 1945, Warm Springs, GA
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Learn more!
· Franklin D. Roosevelt, Thirty-second President, 1933-1945
· Radio in Political Campaigns
· Text of March 12, 1933 "Fireside Chat"
· "Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Back Again," Franklin D. Roosevelt campaign song
· "One-Third of A Nation," From American History in Ballad and Song
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