Fireside Chats: Leading a Nation Through Crises

Catherine Cheng, Joyce Lee, Samantha Leong, Cydney Vicentina

Senior Division
Group Website

Our group first considered the idea of Franklin D. Roosevelts Fireside Chats when one
of our members proposed it as a potential topic. She had read about it in a museum last year on a
school trip and remembered being intrigued by the concept of a presidents having such a desire
to communicate with the people. Our group had already been interested in the use of technology,
specifically the radio, in leadership, so we were excited to explore the leadership of Roosevelt
through modern technology.
To research this topic, we looked up books, articles, and websites online and contacted
the authors of these works through email. We compiled the information from interviews with
these experts, from websites, and from both books found online and from the library.
We chose to present our findings in the form of a website because it offered the most
opportunity to utilize various forms of media, particularly audio since Roosevelts Chats
obviously were conveyed through audio. We also realized that a website would be suitable
especially for our group, whose members live relatively far apart, so we could each work on the
project from our own houses. Before we created our website, we assembled our information and
brainstormed on a Google Document, where we could comment on and edit each others work.
We organized our information on the Google Document to make it easier to present the
information on the website. We divided up the responsibilities by assigning different pages to
our members.
Our group defined leadership as a person or organizations ability to influence or
maintain authority over other people, organizations, or future generations; we defined legacy as a
person or organizations effect on history and future developments. Franklin D. Roosevelt

showed leadership through the Fireside Chats by guiding the people through difficult times in the
United States history. Instead of leaving the people uninformed, he included them so that they
understood what the government was planning on doing and were not led astray by any rumors,
causing greater unity and peace in an otherwise tumultuous time. He also left many effects on
future generations: he began the tradition of regular, direct communication with the people
through media and modern technology; he bolstered the United States citizens belief that they
should be involved in and connected with the government; he produced a new image of a
president--a more relatable and involved president.