"JFK WAS ARTICULATE, THOUGHTFUL, HANDSOME & HIP"

JFK PIONEERED THE LIVE TELEVISED PRESS CONFERENCE

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On February 7, 1963, John F. Kennedy held his 48th presidential press conference at the State Department Auditorium* here in the Nation's Capital.

Eleanor Clift says that President Kennedy...

"...pioneered the live, televised, no-holds barred press conference that became a staple of the modern presidency."

NBC newsman Sid Davis describes JFK as...

"...articulate, thoughtful, handsome and hip, a man who could think on his feet."

Martha Joynt Kumar of the White House Historical Association tells us the first presidential press conference was held in March 1913 by President Woodrow Wilson.  She says that it was JFK who began the "daytime and early evening press conference" on January 25, 1961.

Dwight D. Eisenhower was the first POTUS to hold a live televised press conference on January 19, 1955.  JFK held 64 total conferences, about 2 per month during his 2 year 10 month term.

*The State Department Auditorium could seat more than 800 but there were approximately 200 reporters who covered the White House. 

SOURCES

"How President John F. Kennedy Invented the Modern Press Conference," by Eleanor Clift, Daily Beast, May 23, 2017, www.thedailybeast.com/

"Presidential Press Conferences:  Windows on the Presidency and Its Occupants," by Martha Joynt Kumar, The White House Historical Association, www.whitehousehistory.org/

Presidential Press Conference

State Department Auditorium

May 21, 1963

Photo by Abbie Rowe

JFK Library Image

I MERELY GIVE MY VIEW AS AN INTERESTED CITIZEN

JFK'S FIRST PRESS CONFERENCE

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On January 25, 1961, John F. Kennedy held his first press conference as President of the United States at the State Department Auditorium here in the Nation's Capital.

Breaking with tradition, President Kennedy allowed his meetings with the press to be televised live.  Previously, conferences were held in private, usually in the oval office.  

Sixty-five million Americans in 21.5 million homes tuned in for the first Kennedy press conference and JFK posted an average television audience of 18 million viewers for all conferences.

While JFK's conferences would be known for the President's wit, Walter Shapiro points out that it was a half-hour into that first one before it was unleashed.  JFK expressed the hope that a "small group of men" would not bottle up his proposed legislation in Congress.  He then added...

"I merely give my view as an interested citizen."

The press corps broke into laughter and JFK smiled.  It would not be the last time that happened.

SOURCES

"Kennedy and the Press:  The News Conferences", Edited and Annotated by Harold W. Chase and Allen H. Lerman, Thomas Y. Crowell Company, New York, 1965.

"The Kennedy Press Conference, Always Good for a Laugh", New England Historical Society, www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/

JFK at Press Conference

State Dept. Auditorium

January 24, 1962

Photo by Cecil W. Stoughton

JFK Library Image

THANK YOU MR. PRESIDENT

JFK+50:  Volume 7, No. 2200

JFK'S FIRST NEWS CONFERENCE BROADCAST LIVE 56 YEARS AGO

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) Fifty-six years ago today, January 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy held his first official news conference as President of the United States.  

The meeting with the press, held in the State Department Auditorium*, was the first presidential news conference to be televised live across the nation.  Sixty-five million Americans tuned in for the conference in 21.5 million homes.

JFK was to have an average television audience of 18 million for all his news conferences.   

Press secretary, Pierre Salinger, said...

"The ideas and philosophy of (President Kennedy)...were best displayed during those moments of truth when he stood alone before the representatives of the press..."

Mr. Salinger went on to say that JFK was well prepared for each of his news conferences.    The staff would provide, beforehand, questions they thought might be asked which gave the President the opportunity to formulate his responses.  It also afforded him the opportunity to request more information on a topic if needed.

According to Assistant Press secretary Malcolm Kilduff, President Kennedy had a unique ability to predict what questions would be asked and sometimes would imitate the reporter's voice who would most likely ask them.

When the double doors of the auditorium opened, the President would stride through and all reporters would stand.  After JFK made a brief opening statement, the floor was open for questions.  Reporters who had questions would stand and say "Mr. President!"

JFK would select one, point at that reporter,  while the others would sit back down and wait for their next opportunity.

Following is one of the questions John F. Kennedy answered in his first presidential news conference and his response.

Question...

Mr.President, there has been some apprehension about the instantaneous broadcast of Presidential press conferences such as this one, the contention being that an inadvertent statement no longer correctable, as in the old days, could possibly cause some grave consequences.  

Do you feel there is any risk or could you give us some thought on that subject?

The President...

Well, it was my understanding that the statements made by...President Eisenhower were on the record.  There may have been a clarification that could have been issued afterwards but it still would have been on the record as a clarification, so I don't think that the interests of our country are (threatened).

It seems to me they're as well protected under this system as they were under the system followed by President Eisenhower.  And this system has the advantage of providing more direct communication.

At the end of the news conference, UPI's Merriman Smith said, "Thank you, Mr. President."

JFK+50 NOTE

Well today TWITTER certainly provides an even MORE DIRECT and personal form of communication for a President of the United States who wishes to use it.  We wonder what President Kennedy would have thought about President Trump's role as "twitter-n-chief?" 

*State Department Auditorium, capable of seating 800 people, had an entrance on 23rd Street.  President Eisenhower laid the cornerstone for the building on Jan 5, 1957 & it was dedicated on Jan 5, 1961.


SOURCES

"Extended, remodeled New State Building," Office of the Historian, www.history.state.gov/

"Kennedy and the Press:  The News Conferences,"  Edited & Annotated by Harold W. Chase & Allen H. Lerman, Thomas Y. Crowell Company, New York, 1965.