in the Jesuit Tradition - Rockhurst University

We’re WatchingIn April 1945, a reluctant Harry Trumangalloped through the basement of the U.S.Capitol building on his way to the CabinetRoom where he was to be sworn in as the33rd president of the United States. In stunnedstoicism, he opened the door to the room to seeFranklin Roosevelt’s Cabinet look back at him insilence. Truman stepped forward, placed his lefthand on the Bible and raised his right. Afterrepeating the oath of office, Truman raised theBible firmly to his lips and kissed its cover as ifwithdrawing all of its inspiration.Despite being captured on film for newsreel,few of the general public witnessed the event.What a beautiful display of passion and commitmentthey missed. What an awesome taskTruman faced. If only the newsreel footagecould have been seen in real time so hiscommunication advisers and political consultantscould have capitalized on and spun the image ofTruman reaching deep inside himself to acceptthe magnitude of his task.Communication advisers? Consultants?Spin?Not in Harry Truman’s day. Later, duringhis 1948 campaign, estimates suggested therewere only about 150,000 television sets operatingin the United States. Truman delivered hisnomination acceptance speech hours from primetime, at 2:15 a.m., in a hot, smoky Philadelphiaconvention center. Television was not a factorin how Truman led the country and tried toconvince it to elect him. Now, television and theimage of leadership it presents are among theprimary concerns of American political figures,most notably presidents.Television is, in terms of a communicationchannel, still a very new medium. Televisionoriginated during the lifetime of many ofour country’s citizens. Television continues toadapt to changing technology and to push theenvelope of content. Programs of the ’60s wereunlike those of the ’50s, programs of the ’70sunlike those of the ’60s and, certainly, contemporarytelevision is unlike anything we’ve seenbefore. To suggest that the power of televisionhas peaked in any way is to ignore its enormousinfluence (and potential). In short, we are stillexperimenting with how television affects peopleon Presidential LeadershipPhoto courtesy of John Fitzgerald Kennedy Library.