If you are looking for a “podcast” to get away from things, I have an excellent suggestion: “Cats by the fire by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. “I know that the title appears as an ancient story, but I promise you the episodes – starting with the first time, the banking crisis”, which fell on March 12, 1933 – feeling completely relevant.
“There is one element in the readjustment of our financial system more important than currency, more important than gold, and it is the confidence of people,” said Roosevelt when she closed his first cat by the fire. “Confidence and courage are the essential elements of success in the achievement of our plan. You must have faith; You should not be stamped by rumors or assumptions. Let us unite in fear. We provided the machinery to restore our financial system; He cannot fail.
To appreciate the magnitude of the first episode of the Roosevelt podcast, consider the circumstances of its listeners. In October 1929, the stock market had collapsed and the banks had started to close, triggering the great depression. The worst year was in 1933, the year Roosevelt arrived at the White House. At this stage, 1 out of 4 American was unemployed and the gross domestic product had dropped by 30% in less than five years. Roosevelt was inaugurated on March 4. Two days later, he closed all the banks of the country and worked with the congress to restructure our financial system. The first episode of the Roosevelt podcast was heard the day before the reopening of Banks.
“I hope you can see on this elementary account of what your government does that there is nothing complex or radical, in the process,” said Roosevelt. “We had a bad banking situation. Some of our bankers had shown themselves incompetent or dishonest in their treatment of popular funds. ”
According to Time magazineBefore the inauguration of Roosevelt, more than $ 1.2 billion had been removed from the country's banks in less than two weeks and a “record of $ 116,000,000 in gold had been drawn from the banks of the federal reserve in one day, mainly by the withdrawal of foreign sales”.
Incredibly, in less than 20 minutes, the President of the United States explained what he and the Congress did to stabilize the economy with clarity, authority and above all, compassion. It is nothing sugar, although it has remained optimistic about the future of the country. He reprimanded fear while explaining how hoarding paralyzes the nation's ability to get out of the financial abyss. In this first episode – and in the following 29s that Roosevelt made between 1933 and 1944 – you heard a leader who understood how to use the mass media to continue his program. And although conservatives do not always agree with Roosevelt's policies – and still do not do so, given the current attacks against some of its signature programs such as Social Security – it has always been able to explain its justification with clarity.
Often when we think about the nation First television presidential debateThe conversation focuses on the appearance of candidates. How much John F. Kennedy looked at his pale and sweaty opponent, Richard Nixon. However, if you go back and listen to what the two men say during this 1960 debate, something else speaks: they knew what they were talking about. Kennedy and Nixon do not agree on many policies, but none have relied on personal attacks or campaign slogans to divert political discussions. Each candidate had a good understanding of the problems and could explain their justification with clarity. And when the two men were elected presidents, everyone understood the importance of using the mass media to get their message across.
This week, Stephen A. Smith, my former ESPN colleague, has publicly published that he was planning to come to the presidency. After President Trump was able to use celebrities and mass media to increase political power, I guess Smith believes that he can do the same. There is no questioning of Smith's popularity in the world of sport and perhaps this can result in a movement. But where does he want to take us?
“Hates the idea of being a politician,” said Smith on social networks. “But fed up with this mess.”
Trump started his campaign in 2015 by saying that he wanted to make the country again large, but even a decade later, he has not yet articulated when the country has stopped being great.
Smith claims to be “sick of this mess”, so I would be curious when he thinks that “this mess” began. The sentence is conveniently vague and can be interpreted by anyone who means everything he wants it to mean – as “making America again great”.
Real problems require real solutions, not hot catches. When Roosevelt started using mass media to get his message across in 1933, the banking crisis was not the only “mess” he was to face. Some of the “damage” – poverty, racism, labor rights – are still very messy today. And although the connection with the public was the key to the sale of its policies, its policies were the key to its success as president.
In today's mass media landscape, a camera and a microphone could be enough to make you elect. However, governance requires more than a great personality – which is why Smith's comment that he does not want to be a politician is problematic. As president, politics is most of the work.
Inside the ESPN “embrace” culture, it doesn't matter if you're wrong. Jumping on Fox News to exchange zincs with the host is very good and dandy unless politics emitted. Because just as we are witnessing with regard to prices, being elected is not the same as knowing what you are talking about.
