Media & Communications Firsts

The presidential firsts related to the user of media and communication methods by the President of the United States.

PresidentNote
First president to install a telegraph office in the White HouseAndrew Johnson
First president to have a telephone on his deskHerbert Hoover
First president to hold a press conference or news briefingWoodrow Wilson
First president to hold a televised new conferenceDwight D. Eisenhower1955
First president to deliver an address from a communication satelliteDwight D. Eisenhower

Publishing
First president to have his inaugural address reprinted in a newspaperThomas Jefferson
First president to publish his memoirsUlysses S. Grant

Photography
First president to be photographedJohn Quincy Adams
First president to be photographed while in officeWilliam Henry Harrison
First president to have his Cabinet photographedJames K. Polk

Audio
First president to have his voice recordedBenjamin Harrison
First president to be heard over a radio broadcastWarren G. Hardingover navy radio station NOF in Anacostia, D.C.
First president to deliver his Inaugural Address over an amplification systemWarren G. Harding
First president to deliver a radio broadcast from the White HouseCalvin Coolidge

Video
First president to be filmedGrover Cleveland
First president to appear on televisionFranklin D. Roosevelt
First president to have a nationally televised inaugurationHarry S. Truman
First president to appear on color televisionDwight D. Eisenhower
First president to be elected after a televised presidential debateJohn F. Kennedy1960, debated Richard M. Nixon

Internet
First president to have an official White House websiteBill Clinton
First president to send an email while in officeBill Clinton

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