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Curated by UCLA Film & Television Archive Senior Newsreel Preservationist Jeffrey Bickel, the newsreels presented here cover the period from 1897 to 1967. Because there is so much rich material in the Hearst Metrotone News collection dealing with U.S. presidents, this will only be scratching the surface. But this little sampling is a fascinating view of how these famous, powerful men presented themselves in front of the newsreel cameras.
The Hearst collection is one of the largest newsreel collections in the world. In 2023, The Packard Humanities Institute launched a website (newsreels.net) in collaboration with the Archive to share the Hearst collection for research, study and public access. With nearly 15,000 newsreel stories currently available, the project’s eventual goal is to make the entire Hearst newsreel collection viewable online.
We begin with a newsreel story released in April 1933 titled “Nation Celebrates President’s Day,” a musical tribute dedicated to the Chief Executive sung by Everett Marshall.
“Inauguration Recollections from McKinley to Coolidge”
This special production was created in 1925 for the Hearst silent newsreel series, International News, in honor of the second inauguration of Calvin Coolidge. The newsreel is a brief overview of presidential inaugurations from 1897 to 1923, beginning with William McKinley. Pictured above: Woodrow Wilson and William Howard Taft.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919)
Due primarily to nitrate film deterioration, there is only a small amount of footage that still exists of any of the presidents from the silent era. For this segment on President Roosevelt, we have a compilation of footage from his presidency, post-presidency and his funeral that was released as an obituary reel after his death on January 6, 1919.
Watch online (silent): newsreel 1, newsreel 2
Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)
Here are two sound stories from Calvin Coolidge’s post-presidency — the Coolidges in California on a tour of MGM studios and Coolidge campaigning for President Herbert Hoover in 1932.
February 1930: “Coolidges Tour Movie Studios” (watch online)
October 1932: “Coolidge Stirs Big Republican Rally in Plea for Hoover” (watch online)
Herbert Hoover (1874–1964)
We begin with President Hoover and Henry Ford listening to Thomas Edison discuss the electric light bulb on the invention’s 50th anniversary Golden Jubilee. Additional highlights include a tour of the West Indies, Hoover’s defense of the late ex-president Harding, and his advocacy for a balanced budget at the height of the Great Depression.
October 1929: “Edison Honored by Hoover at Light’s Golden Jubilee” (watch online)
April 1931: “President Hoover Home After Tour of West Indies” (watch online)
June 1931: “President Hoover Defends Harding at Memorial Rites” (watch online)
June 1932: “Mr. Hoover Warns Senate U.S. Budget Must Be Balanced” (watch online)
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)
For the longest serving president, it would be impossible to do full justice here to the presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. This brief overview includes Roosevelt’s message of confidence in U.S. Banks, his March 1933 signing of a beer bill legalizing 3.2 beer (Prohibition would be repealed at the end of the year) and an assassination attempt on the president. Also, we have the president speaking in September of 1941, spurning any peace overtures from Hitler. In addition, we have a story dear to the president’s heart on national fundraising efforts to assist those afflicted with infantile paralysis (polio), with appearances by first lady Eleanor Roosevelt (pictured above) and major film stars. We close with “a measure of cheer from the president” as he looks at the Allies prospects for winning the war at the end of 1942.
March 1933: “A Special Message from the President” (watch online)
March 1933: “Roosevelt Signs the Beer Bill as Nation Rejoices” (watch online)
December 1933: “Attempt on Roosevelt’s Life Shocks Nation” (watch online)
September 1941: “Roosevelt Spurns Hitler Peace!” (watch online)
January 1942: “President’s 350-Pound Cake” (watch online)
February 1942: “Nation Hails President on Diamond Jubilee Birthday!” (watch online)
December 1942: “A Message of Cheer from the President!” (watch online)
Harry S. Truman (1884–1972)
We begin with two Truman announcements, the end of the war in Europe and the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Due to nitrate film deterioration, we have lost the release soundtrack for these two stories and only have Truman’s speeches.
May 1945: “President Truman’s Official Proclamation!” (watch online)
August 1945: “Truman Reveals Atomic Bomb!” (watch online)
July 1946: “Nation Honors Nisei” (watch online)
April 1947: “Truman Urges Action to Guard World Peace!” (watch online)
July 1947: “Truman Attacks Discrimination!” (watch online)
May 1951: “Truman Answers MacArthur! Warns of A-Bomb War” (watch online)
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969)
For our coverage of the presidency of Eisenhower, we begin with a speech he made on a proposed peace plan for the Korean conflict and continue with a speech on the implicit dangers of the Soviet’s first successful hydrogen bomb test. Followed by an unreleased newsreel segment of Eisenhower’s remarks on the “Back to God” program of the American Legion, and a story on Eisenhower’s extended recovery from a serious heart attack in September of 1955. Then, more unreleased footage in which Eisenhower discusses a report entitled “a brief introduction to outer space.”
April 1953: “Eisenhower’s Momentous Peace Plan!” (watch online)
October 1953: “Eisenhower Talks on Soviet Bomb Menace!” (watch online)
February 1954: “Eisenhower ‘Back to God’ Talk” (watch online)
September 1955: “Sudden Illness of Eisenhower Shocks World!” (watch online)
March 1959: “President Eisenhower Space Talk” (watch online)
For more footage related to the Eisenhower Administration, we draw your attention to additional newsreels selected by The Packard Humanities Institute.
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963)
We begin with Kennedy’s discussion of the Soviets successfully putting the first man into outer space in April of 1961. That is followed by the president and the first lady Jacqueline Kennedy in Paris, part of their first international tour. We continue with a speech on the Berlin crisis of 1961, a speech on the U.S. involvement in Vietnam, and unreleased material of a speech made at the end of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Followed by a major policy address that Kennedy made before the United Nations General Assembly suggesting a joint U.S.-Soviet expedition to the moon.
April 1961: “Russia Sends First Man Into Orbit” (watch online)
June 1961: “Kennedy’s Momentous Journey” (watch online)
July 1961: “President Kennedy Meets Berlin Issue with Firmness” (watch online)
February 1962: “Kennedy Gives Views on Vietnam War” (watch online)
November 1962: “Pres. Kennedy Cuban Crisis Speech” (watch online)
September 1963: “Kennedy Asks Joint U.S.-Soviet Moon Trip” (watch online)
Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–1973)
In the first newsreel, President Johnson discusses an end to the Cold War at the United Nations. Next, Johnson discusses his signature domestic program, the Great Society. Followed by a speech on the continued escalation of the Vietnam conflict, then a look at Johnson’s visit to the American Pavilion at Expo 67 in Montreal, Canada.
December 1963: “Pres. Johnson at the United Nations” (watch online)
January 1965: “The Great Society” (watch online)
April 1965: “President Offers Peace Plan for Vietnam” (watch online)
May 1967: “Expo 67 Welcomes Pre. Johnson” (watch online)
This blog was adapted from a presentation by Jeffrey Bickel at the 2019 UCLA Festival of Preservation. Blog edited by Jennifer Rhee, Digital Content Manager.
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