ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how the media interpret and create the president's image and how the media's role in this process has changed over time. While presidents have had a more confrontational relationship with the media, all presidents have sought a favorable public image, not only to get elected or reelected but to enhance their ability to govern. Washington's immediate successor, John Adams, was also the victim of attacks from the opposition press. By the time of Adams' presidency, the Federalist Party had come to believe "that the opposition press represented a seditious threat to their continuance in power, and, therefore, to the stability of the government and the Constitution". Franklin Roosevelt's successors continued to seek innovative ways to control the media. Dwight Eisenhower was the first president to use TV commercials in a political campaign. We are in an era of new communication technologies, which will have an impact on how the president relates to the press and the public.
