October 5:

1947 : First presidential speech on TV

On this day in 1947, President Harry Truman (1884-1972) makes the
first-ever televised presidential address from the White House, asking
Americans to cut back on their use of grain in order to help starving
Europeans.
At the time of Truman's food-conservation speech, Europe was still
recovering from World War II and suffering from famine. Truman, the
33rd commander in chief, worried that if the U.S. didn't provide food
aid, his administration's Marshall Plan for European economic recovery
would fall apart. He asked farmers and distillers to reduce grain use
and requested that the public voluntarily forgo meat on Tuesdays, eggs
and poultry on Thursdays and save a slice of bread each day. The food
program was short-lived, as ultimately the Marshall Plan succeeded in
helping to spur economic revitalization and growth in Europe.
In 1947, television was still in its infancy and the number of TV sets
in U.S. homes only numbered in the thousands (by the early 1950s,
millions of Americans owned TVs); most people listened to the radio
for news and entertainment. However, although the majority of
Americans missed Truman's TV debut, his speech signaled the start of a
powerful and complex relationship between the White House and a medium
that would have an enormous impact on the American presidency, from
how candidates campaigned for the office to how presidents
communicated with their constituents.
Each of Truman's subsequent White House speeches, including his 1949
inauguration address, was televised. In 1948, Truman was the first
presidential candidate to broadcast a paid political ad.
Truman pioneered the White House telecast, but it was President
Franklin Roosevelt who was the first president to appear on TV--from
the World's Fair in New York City on April 30, 1939. FDR's speech had
an extremely limited TV audience, though, airing only on receivers at
the fairgrounds and at Radio City in Manhattan.

history.com/tdih.do


1813 : Tecumseh defeated
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5401

1877 : Chief Joseph surrenders
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5402

1969 : Cuban defector lands MiG in Miami
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5403

1974 : American circumnavigates the globe on foot
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=5404

1989 : Dalai Lama wins Peace Prize
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=7041

#########################################