And the Emmy goes to... Eisenhower?
How one president got an Emmy and redefined the relationship between the presidency and the press forever.
Today, presidents are used to live news coverage, viral video segments, and cable television hot takes. But have you ever wondered where it all started?
In January 1955, President Dwight D. Eisenhower became the first POTUS to televise his press conferences. As it turns out, the decision was born almost out of desperation.
Changing the Ground Rules
Soon after taking office, Eisenhower and his press secretary, James Hagerty, sought to eliminate what they perceived as the media’s distortion of the president’s remarks. Their first major attempt came in late 1953 when Hagerty moved Eisenhower’s press conferences from “off the record” to “on the record.” Prior to this, journalists could not quote a President directly without explicit permission. When that permission was not obtained or sought, the press would simply turn to paraphrasing the remarks with various degrees of accuracy. By allowing journalists to quote freely, the White House hoped to end the “creative liberties” they believed reporters were taking with the president’s words.
The change didn’t end Eisenhower’s frustrations. Just months later, after the New York Times and Washington Post reported on his March 3, 1954, remarks regarding Senator Joseph McCarthy, Eisenhower was once again incensed over the reporting. Frustrated by the lack of control, Hagerty released of the full audio of Eisenhower’s comments to radio and television. “To hell with the slanted reporters,” he wrote in his diary. “We’ll go directly to the people who can hear exactly what the President said without reading warped and slanted stories.”1
Bypassing the Gatekeepers
The war over control of the president’s words culminated on January 19, 1955, when Hagerty allowed television cameras to film Eisenhower’s entire press conference. Startled by the decision, print journalists in the press corps claimed it was a form of censorship because the footage was not broadcast live. The criticism soon faded when the networks began airing the footage in full without any editing by the White House.
And just like that, the presidency walked through a door and never looked back. By introducing cameras, Hagerty transformed the press conference from an informal working session into a national event. He also used this strategy to stage the first televised Cabinet meeting and to orchestrate the president’s appearances from the hospital after Eisenhower’s heart attack.
By rewriting the rules, Eisenhower and Hagerty redefined the relationship between journalism, public relations, and the executive branch. From then on, presidents were no longer addressing only the press. They were addressing the nation.
James C. Hagerty, The Diary of James C. Hagerty: Eisenhower in Mid-Course, 1954–1955, ed. Michael J. Bohn (New York: Macmillan, 1983), 25