
The original documents are located in Box 12, folder “Fourth Estate and Chief Executive (1)” of the Ron Nessen Papers at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library. Copyright Notice The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Ron Nessen donated to the United States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections. Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library. Digitized from Box 12 of the Ron Nessen Papers at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library -----=-==--- FOURTH ESTATE and II II Nary McGrory II I Richard 11ilhous N:Lxon Hy Parents CON TEN'@ II . II INTRODUCTION ••••••••••.••••••••••••••••.• .......................... 1_ IdHA.PTER O!~E: PRIVATE • .......- • .-. -.-..................................... 6 •.,,. Presidential reading habits(6)--John F. Kennedy(8)--Dwight D. 11 1 Eisenhower and the press(16)--Kennedy(19)-11News Hanagement (34)-- , Duty and Friendship(42)--~don B. Johnson(45)--0rigins of the l Credibility Gap(.51)--Richard M. Nixon(61) 1 il . I • . .. : . .. ICHAPTER TWO. PUBUC .l •••••••••••••.••••••••••••••••••••.•••• • ••••••• 62 .A.FORNAT Stating. the problem(63)-0pening Statements(65)--Planted Questions(75)--Reporters Not Prepared(81)-Reporter1s Bad Technique(85)--Unasked Questions(90)--Closing the conference(9&) I IB. TECHNOLOGY · . I Truman's tiorst-Case &8 )--Nixon 1 s Blunder ( 102)--Changing the ·~ Record(104 )--Hoti.ld ~Ike' Continue the Conference ?(106 )-- Transcripts and Broadcasts(169)--Sound 11ovies(110)--Live TV{15) ... ji . .~: PRESIDENTIAL DESTRUCTION.. , ,. , ......•......... , .. , .. I Lyndon Johnson's Informality(123)--Fear of Television(12?)-- l t·Ialkathons(132)--Nixon Changes Style,But Not Intent(135)-- ,1 His Isolation Grows(141)--The New Accessibili.ty(143)--Power of the Presidency(146)--Nixon Explains. His Absence(147);_ ·,,,~.; ! Klein's Theory(149)--The Press Conference is for Accountability(152) !coNCLUSION ••••· ••••.••••• · ••.•••• - ••••· •• · •• ·........................... 152 i Similarities of JFK,LBJ,ill·ffi(153)--Power of the Presidency(154)-- i Effects of television (156 )--Possible Cures ( 158 )--Greatest 1 Destruction Caused by Johnson and Nixon(161)--Retribution(162)-­ Salvation (163) I I i!FOOTNOTES li IIBIBLIOGRAPHY I I II I . ' I I I I PREFACE ---···--·-----~·-·---·-----··-- ~'------ - ===--=-=-~-==--=-::.:.--=-==~:::::::.===·· This could have been a great thesis. The fact that it is flawed cannot be blamed on the following roll of ~~ people who generously offered their time and experience in explaining to il Ime some of the mysteries of the subject under study: James Reston,of ~ [I 1·-----1 New York Ti.rnes; David s. Broder, Lou Cannon, Carroll Kilpatrick, Charles 11 ! Puffenbarger, Charles Seib, and Peter Silberman, all of The Wash:i.ngt<m. .Ei: Helen Thomas and Frank Cormier, of UPI and AP, respectively; Peter Lisagor of 'fhe .9Ji£_M·o Dai1:Y: l!.,~; Richard Strout, of ~ lJ.e!4_R~; Hugh Sideyil li i of !Al!ill.; Jack Germond:,and Norman Kempster, of ~ ~ngton ~<lL;Dan I \Rather, Bob Schieffer, and Phil Jones, all of CBS; Clark Mollenhoff, of ~· I Ih.El J2$i liQ.W..!ll!. Regi~!2.V Ben Bagdikian; David \-lise; Robert Novak; l<artin Nol9 , I· I ~ of !,he J2.o.stQ!l G!_ob!l; Jerald terHorst, of The J&_trou Fr~ !):<es[; : Allen! \ j Otten, of :L'l~ U!lll Stre.et"t. .Jom:•nal; · Deputy '>'hite House Press Secretary \ IGerald Warren: Professors Pldl R~bbins and Geor;;e Willson, of The George !!Washington University; and Victor Gold. I am also grateful for the advice 1 1 given by Professor Justus lloenecke, of New College;I apologize to him,and I I to the· other membe1•s of my baccalaureate examination committee, Margaret I I1 Bates and Robert Benedetti, for the pressures I have placed them under by 1.· l. II l I I I I II I' I ,e --- -----=-:-- INTfiODUCTION I I II 'I 1! . !i ··:-: .. ::-:-·c- :-::.:::=if --··· -· :c:-: -·~.-:::.=· -·.-. ·-::-:c-·.:::-:c::·=..-::-c::-:-c·:-::_:c.c::: .. :-::-:...::- -:c=:·:;-c;.:c:::...::. :·- :--·.:: ·:c:·.: :·: -:-: ~·.:··= :-:-:c-:c .-c:.:-.-: :·.:-..:::·.:-: :7,_,•:.·:-: =ff=.=--==-~:::- \1 ,I 1j. The President of the United States is the most powerful man in the ;1 lj Westerl'l \vorld. The press is often the most powerful pr~vate institution. !i ll ifuen they meet, the results are often· explosiv:e, occasionally quaint--and j II always important. ~~ I! Our ""areness of the President is based on press reports. These r 'I Ireports cannot help but be influenced by the newsman's subjective impress-~ I . I ,j1 ions of the President, which in turn. are outgrowths of. the President's. \i attitudes towards the press. I take as my basic premise, therefore, that . ! .! . I .1 Presidents get the kind of press they d~serve. j! 11 11. The matters I propose to examine are those private and public rela- li II tions beb.Jeen the press and Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and !I \ ~ . II li Nixon. I apprehend these relations to exist on two planes-the extreme:cy- II ,. ::informal and the strict:cy- formal.. · !I .. if In the former category, (Chapter One), I begin with an overview of II 11th• four Presidentt• reading habits, with special focus on the effects of ~~ I! President Kennedy's considerable interest in newspapers and magazines. I 1 jthen move to a look at Presidential attitudes towards reporters as indivi- 1 jduals, and note the effects as that attitude !lhanged· from disinterest, to I !affectionate salesmanship, to overzealous manipulation, and final~ to lopen hostility. Interwoven in the chronological discussion are portraits !I Iof the press secretaries, a look at the issue of "nev1S management," the II : . e;#lltllfrttO.. .I !ethical and persona1el;l. llt.::;reated when a reporter is also the President's II friend, and the genesis of !ivndon Johnson's "credibility gap." III Chapter Two, a consideration of the public interaction known as the 1 !press conference, is divided into three full subsections. After a brief :I ~~ I · II """"·=~·-· " •·[''""'.' . ,_,_-_ ._., ' ' ,_, ,-__.. -.. ... ' '' . ' ''' .. "'''"' ' ==' ''·' ···' '' ' . ,,_._ •..-.' . ' '' ' ' ".' ... " ' CC "=-• "'= f•c•~ ==" ' II ·I .. ,, . il ···-·---·-··-·-··c···-·-l~-·-:-·-···- ·-:-··-,.-·- c· -- -·- · -· ·- ·-·- -- :_________ --~---··-···--·..: --- ··-- ----- ..,---- ,...--:·-:·-·.. ---·-··-~= . ~---·· ·····-- ·- J ~tat~~~nt. of .. the -~r~bl~~:-r--~-~i~ the -~~~r~h- f·~;··it~ -ca~~~;~d ~-~l~ti~~~. ! -- 1 /I start by outlining twor,of the ways by which Presidents consolidate their !j t natural control of the proceedings. namely the use of opening statements . II I . I I I I and planted questions. This leads to mention of those flaws foi'<oWhich re- ! · porters must assume most of the blame--inadequate preparation and a hesi- I [.I tancy to follow a· colleague's unfinished line of inquiry. The tectmologi- I I, I) cal growth discussed in greater detail in the following section is here 1 cited as a mitigating factor, as the pressman's deficiencies are explained I in terms of stage fright. Because these flaws often produce highl,v imper- .i feet questioning, I n<>Xt discuss the problem a President faces when he is 11 li, prepared for a question which is never asked. This section on format close~ H II! with a look at the traditional means for closing a press conference, and li II some notable exceptions to the rule. I 1 ~ J . The second section is :'devoted to the problems and promises entailed 'f. I I j in the stea~ technological development the press conference has under- ' J gone in the last twenty years. After dealing with the worst-case most ofte~ .: . II ! cited by opponents of electronic media coverage, I survey the steady advan# I . il 1 cas wrought by Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy. Although worried at firs] . I j/ that Eisenhower might in fact discontinue the press conference, reporters 1 /1 soon learned that his administration was committed to providing the full- 1 . 1/ est communication then possible. Starting with the first full transcripts I i produced for publication, Eisenhower and Press Secretary James Hagerty Ieliminated all the honored traditions regulating press conferences. Their I I release of tape recordings of the proceedings placed the President• s words 1 for the first time, in direct quotation. A year later another momentous !1 step was taken, with the first appearance at a Presidentia& press confer- I 1 • i ence of t~levision and newsreel cameras. Although this marked the limits . ' .. · · . .. :::c: ::..:..::::..:::-.::;::;::::":=:·:.:::· ·-l:.::.:·~:.:::.:.oc:~;::::.:! __ .:··;· :::: ~.::·;;:::·.: .::.·.::.:. ::::·.:.:::cc:·.:::::.:c·:.:c:·::. :·.:~::··::.: -~.:.::·:~:;·; ·;:·.:::. ·:::.: ·.:..· ................... ····-- ··•· ..··· ·---··-·· ···· ·-·-···-- .... ·-- -·-·- · .·· -· ··············-- ·····. ··· ··-··· ..... r·····-------··-·--·.l.i.. ......... ·····-· ·-······ i I I II 1: I .Mf' ." l:::::~ ~ ~~~~~;: ';~-~:S 'e~~h- t~ :~~ ~~:~:;; ~o~c::~.::: ~~ ~~- :1 That concern intensified at the next logical development, the live jl I telecasting of a Presidential press <:onf&rence. Hagerty had reserved for I ! himself the right to edit the films before release, but President
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