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President Washington exercised his constitutional power to give State of the Union speeches. These speeches were then published newspapers for the American public to read. Since he was the first President, he set the precedent for how to communicate with the people at the time.
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The debates between Lincoln and Stephen Douglas were published in newspapers as well as his speeches as President. Lincoln installed a telegraph in an office at the White House to communicate with military commanders. Washington did use speeches and newspapers; however, he did not use the telegraph as Lincoln did.
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McKinley used moving pictures to reenact important moments from his campaign, such as receiving his party nomination. These captured the attention of the public because this was a new medium that was not widely used yet. Presidents before McKinley did not have access to moving pictures because they served before the invention of them.
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President Roosevelt was very good at creating catchy slogans and colorful quips that were popular in the newspaper and with political cartoonists. Individual newspapers had a larger reach in his time, so these short quotes that were easily remembered were popular among the people. Presidents before Roosevelt relied more on long format speeches that were then published.
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FDR used his charm to connect with the people through fireside chats on the radio. He took a different approach than Presidents before him that used radio; he took a more informal and personal approach. He attempted to make Americans feel as if he was having a conversation with them rather than speaking to them as the President.
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JFK used television to win the Presidency in 1960. Television presented a new consideration for presidential candidates: their appearance. Presidents before JFK did not have to place as much importance on their appearance as JFK did due to the new medium of television. Furthermore, television required for Presidents to become better at speaking live where every word and movement is seen by the public.
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Clinton broke precedent with how Presidents should campaign. He connected more with the youth of American by playing the saxophone on a talk show and answering questions on an MTV forum. Furthermore, Clinton was the first President to create an official email address. Presidents before Clinton took a more formal approach to both communication while campaigning and while President.
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President Obama created the first official presidential Twitter account; however, the tweets were not composed or posted by him. This allowed people to more easily see what the President was doing since they could easily access it on a social media many used. Presidents before Obama did not have access to Twitter, and information from them were still formal and mostly via news outlets.
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Similar to Obama, President Trump used Twitter. However, different to Obama, Trump continued to use his personal Twitter account as president. He likely composed and sent all tweets on his personal account himself. Trump furthered the use of social media by Presidents to communicate with the people. Presidents before him typically stuck to official means of communication with the public, not personal means.