Presidential news conferences

News conferences are official meetings between the President and journalists that are reported in newspapers and on television and radio.

Theodore Roosevelt was the first President to invite reporters into the White House, providing the press with a room in the newly constructed executive office wing. He hired a press secretary to give news releases to reporters. Roosevelt also talked to reporters himself but only off the record. William Howard Taft discontinued the practice of meeting with reporters and had as little to do with them as possible.

Formal news conferences were begun by Woodrow Wilson, who met with reporters once or twice a week for more than two years. He canceled these meetings in 1915, citing “national security” reasons after the sinking of the Lusitania by Germany, but that was only an excuse. Wilson was fed up with reporters asking him personal questions about his family.

Warren Harding, a former newspaper publisher, played cards and golf with White House reporters. He held news conferences twice a week and opened them to all accredited reporters. He invented the title “White House spokesman” to allow the press to quote the President without direct attribution to him. Calvin Coolidge held conferences with reporters, but they could not quote the President or attribute anything to him; consequently there was no “news” in the conference. Herbert Hoover required that questions be submitted one day in advance, and during the depression he suggested that reporters submit their stories to the White House for “clearance.” He held meetings with publishers to complain about their White House reporters and excluded reporters whose stories were critical of him from attending the conferences.

News conferences were used extensively by Franklin Roosevelt, who allowed 20 or so reporters to crowd into the Oval Office twice each week. He eliminated the practice of submitting questions in advance and enjoyed sparring and joking with the reporters. After his first session, they applauded Roosevelt's performance. Harry Truman was more formal, holding news conferences in the State Department's Indian Treaty Room (in what is now the Old Executive Office Building). He stood at a podium looking down at the reporters; he required them to identify themselves before asking questions; and he reduced the sessions to one a week. He also allowed radio stations to broadcast taped excerpts, making news conferences public events.

Dwight Eisenhower filmed conferences for television news and allowed reporters to quote him directly. For the first time, Eisenhower also permitted reporters to transcribe questions and answers, and the New York Times began to print them. Five days after his inauguration, John Kennedy decided to move his news conferences from the White House to an auditorium in the new State Department building that could seat more than 400 reporters. He also permitted live television coverage. The most recent innovation came from Gerald Ford, who allowed reporters to ask follow-up questions after the President responded to the first inquiry.

A news conference typically begins with a brief statement by the President. The reporters then raise their hands and the President recognizes them, often by name. The first questioners are usually the representatives of the wire services, followed by correspondents for the national television or radio networks, and then by other reporters. The conference ends when the senior wire service correspondent says, “Thank you, Mr. President.”

Presidents need not hold news conferences. Coolidge held more than 100 every year; Franklin Roosevelt held them weekly, but Kennedy held them only every other month. Lyndon Johnson was so apprehensive about appearing on television without a prepared speech that he delayed holding a televised conference until February 29, 1964, nearly three months after he had succeeded to the office. He held few conferences during the Vietnam War after reporters accused him of a “credibility gap.”

Richard Nixon also held few news conferences; in his first he told reporters that he would not discuss serious issues in “off-the-cuff responses.” Sometimes he engaged in hostile exchanges with reporters, most notably CBS News correspondent Dan Rather. He refused to hold conferences during the last months of the Watergate crisis. Jimmy Carter held 59 conferences but very few during the Iran hostage crisis because he did not want to report on his lack of progress in freeing the hostages. Ronald Reagan, the “Great Communicator,” held only 27 during his first term and held none through most of the Iran-Contra affair. During his second term, Bill Clinton held hardly any news conferences, particularly during the impeachment crisis.

See also Press secretary; Media coverage of Congress

Sources

• Douglas Cater, The Fourth Branch of Government (New York: Vintage, 1959).
• Blaire A. French, “The Presidential Press Conference: Its History and Role in the American Political System” (Washington, D.C.: University Press of America, 1982).
• Carolyn Smith, Presidential Press Conferences (Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1990)