The One Way that Trump is as Great as FDR, Reagan, and Obama

For as long as the US presidency has existed, presidents have used the media to establish their message, define their opponents, and influence public opinion. Some have done it better or have adapted to new media more readily than others.

For the republic’s first century and a half, the media landscape consisted only of the printed and spoken word. In order to aspire to the White House, a politician needed to write well and deliver speeches effectively. The best-regarded presidents of this period are renowned not only for their leadership, but also for their mastery of language. Washington’s speeches and letters helped establish the political norms of the new country. Lincoln surely could have excelled as an essayist had he not gone into law and politics. Theodore Roosevelt was a tireless reader, diarist, and speechmaker.

Starting in the twentieth century, advances in technology multiplied the number of media channels which presidents were required to navigate. As each new medium has appeared, presidents have tended to react cautiously or clumsily at first, either ignoring the new format or timidly dancing a few awkward steps with it. Eventually, a sitting or aspiring president figures out how to tame the new medium, and it is successfully incorporated into the bully pulpit.