ABSTRACT

Afew weeks after Jimmy Carter took office in 1977 as the 39thPresident of the United States, he appeared in an informal televised“fireside chat” much like those of President Roosevelt on radio four decades earlier, but wearing a sweater instead of a business suit. Carter tried to appear new and folksy at the same time-promising a continuation of past Democratic philosophy with few changes in government operation, and walking down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House after he was sworn in. In contrast, 12 years later, as Ronald Reagan ended his two terms and George Bush, Sr., took office, the relationships of government and business (including the industry of broadcasting) that the United States had known for most of the twentieth century had undergone drastic changes as a result of rapid technological innovation and adoption of radical deregulation for ideological reasons.