Today is the big day for The White House. On exactly this day 8th February 1922, a radio was installed in the Presidential Mansion. In 1922, radio was the hottest new technology much like the internet is today. A lot of local radio stations had amateur talent perform while some of the larger stations broadcasted newscasts, weather reports, popular and classical music etc.
It was only two years after President Harding installed the first radio in the White House that President Calvin Coolidge became the first president to broadcast from the White House. The broadcast was for George Washington’s birthday and was heard on over 42 stations around the country.
Before that historic broadcast, radio had played a big role in Coolidge's victory in the 1924 presidential election. The night before the election, Coolidge made history when the largest radio audience ever tuned in to the broadcast of his final campaign speech. Coolidge won the election easily, and in March, Americans listened for the first time to their president take the oath of office on the radio.
Share on Social Media