In an era of great technical advances, Roosevelt harnessed the medium’s power like no president before him
Intimate View
Roosevelt's presidency coincided with two key technical advancements in photography. The development of higher speed films and smaller, easier-to-carry cameras like the Leica allowed White House photographers to capture the president in intimate moments like this one, captured by Life photographer Thomas McAvoy, showing FDR at a Jackson Day Dinner in 1937.Thomas McAvoy / Time Life Pictures / Getty
Message Control
In harnessing the media technologies of his day, FDR grew keenly aware of their nuance and power. In an encounter with famed actor Orson Welles in the late thirties, he commented, almost surely without irony, "Orson, you and I are surely the two best actors in this country."Corbis
Access
Aware of the important roll the press could play in helping him craft his message, Roosevelt routinely allowed members of the press into the White House. He presided over two press conferences almost every week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, favoring the deadlines of the morning papers on one day and the evening papers on the other.Bettmann / Corbis
Charisma
"FDR understood the camera, he understood the public aspect of the presidency," says Bob Clark, an archivist at the FDR Presidential Library. "He knew how to communicate with people."Bettmann / Corbis
Mass Means
Photography complemented Roosevelt's outreach to the nation through the radio. As Americans listened to his speeches in their living rooms, they could see his picture in the latest glossy magazines. He often read pre-selected portions of his speeches in front of the press before the actual broadcast in order to give the newsmen better quality images.Bettmann / Corbis
Greatness
The blossoming of news photography fueled the popularity of magazines like Life, which sent legendary shooter Margaret Bourke-White to cover the president in 1938, above.Margaret Bourke-White / Time Life Pictures / Getty
Welcome
An anonymous Associated Press photographer made this frame of Roosevelt (with daughter Anna and wife Eleanor) as he arrived at his retreat in Warm Springs, Georgia shortly after winning the presidency in 1932.AP
Photo Op
Hats off to the photographer (or press aide?) who put this 1935 shot together, a powerful visual metaphor. Seen in silhouette, FDR is steady at the helm, fully in command of the ship of state.Keystone / Getty
First Pitch
Members of the press accepted the understanding that images that referenced FDR's inability to walk were off-limits. Though the arrangement is often characterized as a gentleman's understanding, it is sure that members of the press knew to violate that understanding would result in a loss of access to the President.Bettmann / Corbis
Pose
Says archivist Clark, "FDR was comfortable with himself as president. And that comfort translated well into film, making him more accessible, more human, to the people." In this photo, made in 1937, the President pauses while speaking with the press at Hyde Park.Bettmann / Corbis
