June 14, 1922 - President Warren Harding had a radio receiver installed in the White House. Google.com Quick to embrace the new medium, he also took a number of actions to shape its development.
President Harding’s voice heard on radio. Harding became the first president to have his voice transmitted by radio. Early adopters of the medium heard Harding address the throng at a dedication ceremony in Baltimore for a memorial to Francis Scott Key, who wrote the lyrics for “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
Three years would pass before the next Oval Office occupant, Calvin Coolidge, would give the first presidential radio address.
In 1920, radio station KDKA in Pittsburgh had reported that Harding had defeated his Democratic opponent, Gov. James Cox of Ohio, to capture the White House. It was the first time election returns were broadcast live.
Harding was a technology buff. In 1923, the same year he died in office, he recorded a speech on a phonograph that could record and play back sound on wax discs. He was also the first president to have a radio installed in the White House. Earlier, President William Taft had distributed phonograph recordings of his speeches.
Technological advances have allowed successive presidents to reach ever larger audiences. In 1829, when President Andrew Jackson spoke before about 10,000 people at his inauguration, only a small number near the platform could hear him. By contrast, an estimated 125,000 listeners heard Harding’s speech at his memorial dedication for Key.
During the 1930s and ’40s, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proved a master at using radio. Some historians credit Sen. John F. Kennedy’s good looks and calm demeanor in his televised presidential debates against Republican Vice President Richard Nixon for the critical edge that led to his narrow 1960 presidential victory.
Bill Clinton was the first president to set up a White House website.