MUSEUM OF TELEVISION & RADIO SEMINAR SERIES, THE: TELEVISION AND THE PRESIDENCY, SEMINAR NO. 5: THE PRESIDENCY: THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENCY: STYLE AND IDEOLOGY {LONG VERSION}
Summary
One in this series of seminars conducted by The Museum
of Television & Radio. This seminar, the fifth of ten
seminars about television and the U.S. presidency,
e xamines how television has assisted or constrained the
personal style of the president. The program is hosted
by Museum chairman Frank A. Bennack, Jr. and moderated
by Museum president Robert M. Batscha and ABC News
commentator Jeff Greenfield. The following panelists
participate: Michael K. Deaver of Edelman Public
Relations Worldwide; Sam Donaldson of ABC News;
historian/author Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.; Lesley Stahl
of CBS News; and Jack Valenti, president and CEO of the
Motion Picture Association. (Panelist biographies
immediately follow this summary.) The program opens
with a screening of television footage of presidents
past and present, illustrating elements of each chief
executive's personal style. Clips include Harry S.
Truman at the piano and Bill Clinton playing the
saxophone on "The Arsenio Hall Show." Next, Bennack
introduces the seminar and Batscha introduces the panel.
The panel addresses the following topics, among others:
the historical precedents for media manipulation by
presidents; the presence of television in the Kennedy
White House and John F. Kennedy's ability to come across
well on camera; Lyndon Johnson's discomfort with the
medium and his inability to make good use of it to
promote his agenda; Richard Nixon's hostile relationship
with the network news media; Donaldson's relationship
with Jimmy Carter; the mixed results of the Carter
administration's efforts to use TV images to serve their
purposes; the remarkable media control of the Reagan
administration and the large role of then-Deputy Chief
of Staff Mike Deaver in constructing Ronald Reagan's
television image; George Bush's unsuccessful attempt to
prove he was different on television and his contempt
for the media manipulators of the Reagan years; the
effect of CNN on nightly news, and how Bush came across
in this changing media landscape; Dwight Eisenhower's
difficulties with television; whether it is necessary
for a president to be telegenic; how television can
mislead the public and drive the president's agenda; the
television "town meeting"; whether it was a strategic
error on Bill Clinton's part to assume that the network
news media no longer mattered during his early days in
the White House; presidential dignity; whether Clinton
has overexposed himself on television; general panel
opinions about whether television enhances or shrinks
presidential power; the effect of presidential
counsellor David Gergen on Clinton's use of the media;
and projections about the future of the Clinton
presidency.
Biographies
Jeff Greenfield is political and media analyst for ABC
News and writes a syndicated column on politics that
appears in some 160 papers. He has reported extensively
on the media coverage of presidential campaigns and
conventions since 1980. His nine books include "Playing
to Win" and "The Real Campaign," and he has received two
Emmys for his coverage of events in South Africa.
Michael K. Deaver is executive vice president and
director of corporate affairs for Edelman Public
Relations Worldwide. Before this he served as assistant
to the president of the United States and deputy chief
of the White House staff under the Reagan
administration. Mr. Deaver was responsible for the
Office of Presidential Scheduling and Appointments, the
Office of Presidential Advance, the White House Military
Office, and the Office of Public Affairs.
Sam Donaldson, coanchor of "Prime Time Live," has
covered every national political convention since 1964
and reported on the presidential campaigns of Barry
Goldwater, Eugene McCarthy, Hubert Humphry, Jimmy
Carter, Ronald Reagan, Michael Dukakis, and Bill
Clinton. From 1977 to 1989 he was ABC's chief White
House correspondent. His awards include three Emmys
and a George Foster Peabody Award.
Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., historian and writer, is
currently Albert Schweitzer Professor of the Humanities
at the City University of New York. From 1961-63 he
was special assistant to President John F. Kennedy. He
has taught at Harvard and Princeton and has received
both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award
twice. Among his books are "A Thousand Days: John F.
Kennedy in the White House" (1966), "Robert Kennedy and
His Times" (1978), "The Cycles of American History"
(1986), and "The Disuniting of America" (1991).
Lesley Stahl is coeditor of the CBS newsmagazine "60
Minutes." Whe has also been CBS's chief White House
correspondent, and was a regular correspondent during
the Carter and Reagan years. Ms. Stahl has covered
Watergate, the assassination attempt on President
Reagan, and every political and economic summit since
1979, as well as every national political convention and
election night since 1974.
Jack Valenti is president and chief executive officer of
the Motion Picture Association of America. Early in his
career he founded an advertising and political
consulting agency which handled press during President
Kennedy and Vice President Johnson's visit to Dallas in
November 1963. With Johnson's inauguration, Mr. Valenti
became the first special assistant to the president.
Details
- NETWORK: Paley
- DATE: October 1, 1993 12:30 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:25:04
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:30240
- GENRE: Seminars
- SUBJECT HEADING: She Made It Collection (Lesley Stahl)
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Frank A. Bennack, Jr. … Host
- Robert M. Batscha … Moderator
- Jeff Greenfield … Moderator
- Michael K. Deaver … Guest
- Sam Donaldson … Guest
- Arthur Schlesinger … Guest
- Lesley Stahl … Guest
- Jack Valenti … Guest