As we wrap up our series on the early history of radio,
admittedly, the following has little to do with Wall Street
compared to the previous two installments, but I would be remiss
in not discussing the power of radio, in the late 20s through the
Second World War, to shape, and rally, public opinion.
You”ll recall that in the early 1920s, radio was highly parochial.
Stations were community oriented, and with the lack of power in
the signal, often could only be heard a few miles. Every group
seemed to have their own programming, ranging from churches
to poultry farmers.
But as 5- and 10,000-watt stations began to appear on the scene,
radio”s power grew exponentially. One of the first to take
advantage of this newfound influence was a Canadian-born
Roman Catholic priest, Charles Edward Coughlin.
Father Coughlin became pastor of a small, lower-middle-class
suburban Detroit parish in 1926. There were only about 25
families in his flock, and while it was the “Roaring Twenties,”
much of America was still not participating in the affluence.
Coughlin picked up on this “haves vs. have nots” theme, feeding
the economic anxiety that the working-class folk felt. His
Sunday sermons were aired on one of the Detroit stations and the
“radio priest,” as he would come to be called, spread the word,
railing against Communists (who were making inroads into
Detroit”s auto industry), as well as the policies of Herbert Hoover
and the international banking system.
But Coughlin wanted a wider audience, a national forum, and by
1929 stations in Chicago and Cincinnati picked up his Sunday
broadcasts. The following year CBS entered into an agreement
to carry him on a nationwide basis. It was estimated that by
1932 he had an audience of up to 46 million. Father Coughlin”s
fan mail was such that he required over 100 clerks and personal
secretaries to answer it. By 1934 he was receiving more mail
than the president.
Sitting back observing this phenomenon was Franklin D.
Roosevelt, who saw great potential in Coughlin”s use of this new
medium. And Roosevelt also saw radio as a bridge to the
burgeoning Catholic immigrant communities that the priest
played to. As FDR campaigned for the presidency, Coughlin
became his #1 cheerleader. The nation faced the choice of
“Roosevelt or ruin,” he would intone. After FDR”s election,
Coughlin thundered, “The New Deal is Christ”s deal.”
But by 1934, as Roosevelt helped to bail out the very banking
system that Coughlin had previously railed against, and as the
impact of the New Deal was limited when it came to the daily
suffering of the working class, he turned on FDR. [And later,
Coughlin became a true Fascist.]
At the same time other political figures like Louisiana”s Huey
Long were using the power of radio to promote their agendas.
For his part, by 1935 Long was receiving 100,000 letters of
support for each of his own broadcasts.
But by now Roosevelt was well ensconced in the White House
and had become an expert himself, utilizing his “fireside chats”
to rally the American people behind his own policies.
The first of what would be close to 100 radio addresses over his
term in office was conducted just days after his inauguration, on
March 12, 1933. The banks had been closed the prior week, but,
as they were about to be reopened, FDR took to the airwaves to
reassure the American people that it was safer to “keep your
money in a reopened bank than under the mattress.” 60 million
listened in and the next day, as some of the banks renewed
operations, the money came flowing back in.
With Roosevelt”s first fireside chat, the White House no longer
seemed remote to the American people. And as the U.S. inched
closer to entering World War II, radio also brought world affairs
into the living room for the first time. Unfortunately, across
the Atlantic, it was aiding in Adolf Hitler”s rise to power.
Some of Roosevelt”s other important fireside chats were:
April 1938 – The president urged increased defense spending,
following Hitler”s invasion of Austria. “Security is our greatest
need.Democracy has disappeared in several other great nations,
not because the people of those nations disliked democracy, but
because they had grown tired of unemployment and insecurity,
of seeing their children hungry while they sat helpless in the face
of government confusion and government weakness through lack
of leadership in government.History proves that dictatorships
do not grow out of strong and successful governments, but out of
weak and helpless ones.”
[There are many who argued after this presentation that FDR,
entering the 6th year of the New Deal and with the U.S. still in
the throes of Depression, was, in the words of historian David
Kennedy, himself a “badly weakened leader.”]
September 1939 – Following Germany”s invasion of Poland,
“This nation will remain a neutral nation, but I cannot ask that
every American remain neutral in thought as well.”
December 1940 – As the U.S. was strengthening its partnership
with Great Britain, which would lead to the Lend-Lease Act, “If
Great Britain goes down, the Axis powers will control the
continents of Europe, Asia, Australasia, and the high seas – and
they will be in a position to bring enormous military and naval
resources against this hemisphere. It is no exaggeration to say
that all of us, in all the Americas, would be living at the point of
a gun.(To prevent this, America) must be the great arsenal of
democracy.”
May 1941 – After the German battleship Bismarck sank the
Hood, the pride of the Royal Navy, some of FDR”s supporters
were screaming for the U.S. to finally get involved. Speaking to
an estimated audience of 55 million, FDR declared an “unlimited
state of emergency,” which in actuality meant very little, but it
was all part of his own propaganda game, leading to America”s
direct involvement.
February, 1942 – Now that the U.S. was in the war, FDR
suggested people buy an atlas to acquaint themselves with the
geography of the conflict. During the fireside chat, he then
guided them through the maps, helping them to understand how
WW II was different in scope from the last war.
And there were somewhat lighter moments, such as in June 1942
when FDR declared, “I want to talk to you about rubber, about
rubber and the American people,” rubber being a key commodity
for the military effort. Some women then mailed the president
their old rubber girdles.
These are just a few examples of how radio was able to unite,
and in some cases divide, people from the far-flung corners of
America. Overseas, in Great Britain Winston Churchill was
himself a master communicator, rallying the British people to
heroic heights. All of his famous House of Commons speeches
were aired, of course, and Churchill utilized separate radio
broadcasts as well. In one such chat in October 1939, he
famously commented on the Soviet Union.
“I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle
wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.”
Later on, after World War II, radio would play a powerful role in
the eventual fall of the Iron Curtain, as outlets such as Radio Free
Europe, Voice of America, and the BBC gave hope to Eastern Europeans,
or at least provided a window of knowledge, in their otherwise
dreary worlds.
When you look at the fantastic history of radio, and the influence
companies such as RCA had in the shaping of modern Wall
Street, you can”t help but think of today. We all eagerly await
the now much-delayed advent of broadband, and all it is
supposed to offer. Maybe it will eventually exceed expectations,
but as far as propaganda value, whether from a political or
commercial standpoint, I still don”t see how you can match the
power of radio and television these days. Now if you tell me that
some day we”ll wake up in the morning to a unified message
from some leader at the start of each day, appearing on our
computers, then we have a problem.
Sources:
Same as parts one and two.in addition.
“Freedom from Fear,” by David Kennedy
Brian Trumbore
