FDR Fireside Chats and Speeches - TopPodcast.com

View Top 200 Chart

Back to Rankings Page

FDR Fireside Chats and Speeches — Kids & Family
FDR Fireside Chats and Speeches

When President Franklin D. Roosevelt took office in 1933, one in four Americans was out of work nationally, but in some cities and some industries unemployment was well over 50 percent. Equally troubling were the bank panics. Between 1929 and 1931, 4,000 banks closed for good; by 1933 the number rose to more than 9,000, with $2.5 billion in lost deposits. Banks never have as much in their vaults as people have deposited, and if all depositors claim their money at once, the bank is ruined. Millions of Americans lost their money because they arrived at the bank too late to withdraw their savings. The panics raised troubling questions about credit, value, and the nature of capitalism itself. And they made clear the unpredictable relationship between public perception and general financial health—the extent to which the economy seemed to work as long as everyone believed that it would. To stop the run on banks, many states simply closed their banks the day before Roosevelt’s inauguration. Roosevelt himself declared a four-day “bank holiday” almost immediately upon taking office and made a national radio address on Sunday, March 12, 1933, to explain the banking problem. Then until 1944 FDR spoke to America as the depression gave rise to World War II.

Latest Episodes:

FDR Fireside Chats FRD on Economic Conditions 4/14/38 Apr 28, 2010

Show notes

Old Time Radio Network Announces Our

5th Anniversary Special Edition Of Old Time Radio Collection

10 Volumes, 1000's of Hours of Listening

over 5000 Shows From the best of OTR

All 10 Volumes Plus Bonus Space Patrol Volume 1 at the low price of $ 72.49 Unbelievable!!!

Purchase Today an Save, $79.49 Free Shipping for Complete 10 DVD Set

PLUS BONUS DVDs Space Patrol TV Volume 1 , Volume 1 Rin Tin Tin, and Superman Volume 1

or you may purchase individual DVDs

Classic TV Shows, Superman, Rin Tin Tin, Howdy Doody, Rocky Jones,

Big Band Serenade COMING SOON!!!

Classic Serials, Captain America and more

Go To Old Time Radio Network and order today

FDR Fireside Chats 10/31/36 Apr 05, 2010

Show notes

Old Time Radio Network Announces Our

5th Anniversary Special Edition Of Old Time Radio Collection

10 Volumes, 1000's of Hours of Listening

over 5000 Shows From the best of OTR

Purchase Today an Save, $75.49 Free Shipping for Complete 10 DVD Set

PLUS BONUS DVD Space Patrol TV Volume 1 or $7.95 for individual DVD

Classic TV Shows, Superman, Rin Tin Tin, Howdy Doody, Rocky Jones,

Big Band Serenade

Classic Serials, Captain America and more

Go To Old Time Radio Network and order today

FDR Fireside Chats 10/8/36 Mar 29, 2010

Show notes

Old Time Radio Network Announces Our

5th Anniversary Special Edition Of Old Time Radio Collection

10 Volumes, 1000's of Hours of Listening

over 5000 Shows From the best of OTR

Purchase Today an Save, $75.49 Free Shipping for Complete 10 DVD Set

PLUS BONUS DVD Space Patrol TV Volume 1 or $7.95 for individual DVD

Classic TV Shows, Superman, Rin Tin Tin, Howdy Doody, Rocky Jones,

Big Band Serenade

Classic Serials, Captain America and more

Go To Old Time Radio Network and order today

Brother Can You Spare A Dime Campaign Mar 28, 2010

Show notes

Old Time Radio Network Announces Our

5th Anniversary Special Edition Of Old Time Radio Collection

10 Volumes, 1000's of Hours of Listening

over 5000 Shows From the best of OTR

Purchase Today an Save, $75.49 Free Shipping for Complete 10 DVD Set

PLUS BONUS DVD Space Patrol TV Volume 1 or $7.95 for individual DVD

Classic TV Shows, Superman, Rin Tin Tin, Howdy Doody, Rocky Jones,

Big Band Serenade

Classic Serials, Captain America and more

Go To Old Time Radio Network and order today

FDR Speech on Suicidal Non Involvement November 10, 1937 Nov 05, 2009

Show notes

According to Roosevelt's principal speechwriter Judge Clinton Sorrel, he first used "fireside chats" in 1929 during his first term as Governor New York. Roosevelt faced a conservative Republican legislature so during each legislative session he would occasionally address the citizens of New York directly in the camelback room. He appealed to them for help getting his agenda passed. Letters would pour in following each of these "chats," which helped pressure legislators to pass measures Roosevelt had proposed. He began making the informal addresses as President on March 12, 1933, during the Great Depression.

FDR Fire Side ChatsOn Legislation to be Recommended to the Extraordinary Session of the Congress - Tuesday, October 12, 1937 Oct 29, 2009

Show notes

"The overwhelming majority of our citizens who live by agriculture are thinking (very) clearly how they want Government to help them in connection with the production of crops. They want Government help in two ways -- first, in the control of surpluses, and, second, in the proper use of land.

The other day a reporter told me that he had never been able to understand why the Government seeks to curtail crop production and, at the same time, to open up new irrigated acres.

He was confusing two totally separate objectives.

Crop surplus control relates to the total amount of any major crop grown in the whole nation on all cultivated land, (good or bad) good land or poor land -- control by the cooperation of the crop growers and with the help of the Government. Land use (on the other hand) is a policy of providing each farmer with the best quality and type of land we have, or can make available, for his part in that total production. Adding good new land for diversified crops is offset by abandoning poor land now uneconomically farmed.

The total amount of production largely determines the price of the crop, and, therefore, the difference between comfort and misery for the farmer.

Let me give you an example: If we Americans were foolish enough to run every shoe factory twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, we would soon have more shoes than the Nation could possibly buy -- a surplus of shoes so great that it would have to be destroyed, or given away, or sold at prices far below the cost of production. That simple (law) illustration, that simple law of supply and demand equally affects the price of all our major crops."

FDR Fire Side Chats On the Reorganization of the Judiciary - Tuesday, March 9, 1937 Oct 22, 2009

Show notes

"It is the American people themselves who are in the driver's seat.

It is the American people themselves who want the furrow plowed.

It is the American people themselves who expect the third horse to pull in unison with the other two.

I hope that you have re-read the Constitution of the United States in these past few weeks. Like the Bible, it ought to be read again and again.

It is an easy document to understand when you remember that it was called into being because the Articles of Confederation under which the original thirteen States tried to operate after the Revolution showed the need of a National Government with power enough to handle national problems. In its Preamble, the Constitution states that it was intended to form a more perfect Union and promote the general welfare; and the powers given to the Congress to carry out those purposes can be best described by saying that they were all the powers needed to meet each and every problem which then had a national character and which could not be met by merely local action."

FDR Speech at Harvard University September 18,1936 Oct 08, 2009

Show notes

According to Roosevelt's principal speechwriter Judge Clinton Sorrel, he first used "fireside chats" in 1929 during his first term as Governor New York. Roosevelt faced a conservative Republican legislature so during each legislative session he would occasionally address the citizens of New York directly in the camelback room. He appealed to them for help getting his agenda passed. Letters would pour in following each of these "chats," which helped pressure legislators to pass measures Roosevelt had proposed. He began making the informal addresses as President on March 12, 1933, during the Great Depression.

FDR Fire Side Chats On Drought Conditions 9/6/36 Oct 03, 2009

Show notes

"There are two reasons why I want to end by talking about reemployment. Tomorrow is Labor Day. The brave spirit with which so many millions of working people are winning their way out of depression deserves respect and admiration. It is like the courage of the farmers in the drought areas.

That is my first reason. The second is that healthy employment conditions stand equally with healthy agricultural conditions as a buttress of national prosperity. Dependable employment at fair wages is just as important to the people in the towns and cities as good farm income is to agriculture. Our people must have the ability to buy the goods they manufacture and the crops they produce. Thus city wages and farm buying power are the two strong legs that carry the nation forward.

Re-employment in industry is proceeding rapidly. Government spending was in large part responsible for keeping industry going and putting it in a position to make this reemployment possible. Government orders were the backlog of heavy industry government wages turned over and over again to make consumer purchasing power and to sustain every merchant in the community. Businessmen with their businesses, small and large, had to be saved. Private enterprise is necessary to any nation which seeks to maintain the democratic form of government. In their case, just as certainly as in the case of drought-stricken farmers, government spending has saved."

FDR Acceptance Speech for the Renomination for the Presidency, Philadelphia, Pa. June 27, 1936 Aug 09, 2009

Show notes

Acceptance Speech for the Renomination for the Presidency, Philadelphia, Pa.June 27, 1936

Here, and in every community throughout the land, we are met at a time of great moment to the future of the Nation. It is an occasion to be dedicated to the simple and sincere expression of an attitude toward problems, the determination of which will profoundly affect America.

I come not only as a leader of a party, not only as a candidate for high office, but as one upon whom many critical hours have imposed and still impose a grave responsibility...........

Related Podcasts