As radio assumed a larger role in the coverage of public affairs, President Roosevelt showed his awareness of the power of this medium to communicate his New Deal message directly to the American people. Nowhere did FDR use radio more effectively than in his series of informal “fireside chats” about his solutions to the problems facing Depression-era America. Trout and his colleague Harry Butcher suggested the term “fireside chat” in planning the first broadcast, and the president liked the concept. It was Trout who first used the term on the air. Robert Trout's coverage of these early events in Roosevelt's administration began to cement his close working relationship with FDR.
Robert Trout script notes for his concluding remarks for the sixth“Fireside Chat,” September 30, 1934.
