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11 July 2007

Press’s Relationship with U.S. Presidents Rocky but “Necessary”

Bush jokes about reporters, but acknowledges their importance to democracy

 

President Bush, joined by White House spokesman Tony Snow, first lady Laura Bush and White House Correspondents Association President Steve Scully, cuts a ribbon to mark the reopening of the renovated James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington July 11. (© AP Images)

President Bush cuts a ribbon to mark the reopening of the renovated James S. Brady Press Briefing Room July 11. (© AP Images)

By Stephen Kaufman
USINFO Staff Writer

Washington -- After nearly a year in temporary quarters across the street, the White House press corps has returned to the Executive Mansion complex, resuming its base of operations in the West Wing, just steps away from the Oval Office of the president of the United States.

At a July 11 ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the reopening of the renovated press area, White House Correspondents Association President Steve Scully said, “Nowhere else is the press this close to the head of state," adding that former President Nixon once tried to move the press corps to an adjacent building, but reporters prevailed in their campaign to maintain their close proximity.

In a humorous reference to the often contentious relationship between U.S. presidents and the reporters who cover them, President Bush welcomed the press corps back to the West Wing, saying, “We missed you -- sort of.”

Bush went on to describe as “unique” and “necessary” the relationship between presidents and the press.

“[S]ometimes you don't like the decisions I make, and sometimes I don't like the way you write about the decisions.  But nevertheless, it's a really important part of our [democratic] process,” he said.

 

President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill take questions from reporters in the White House Executive Office in Washington December 23, 1941. To accommodate the growing demand for television news, President Richard Nixon ordered in 1969 the construction of a press briefing room over a swimming pool that had been built for Roosevelt in 1933. (© AP Images)

President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill speak to the press December 23, 1941. (© AP Images)

Since 1969, the press briefing room has stood over an indoor pool that was built by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1933.  Before the pool was built, the area had been used at times as an ice house, a laundry and servants' quarters.

When President Nixon ordered that the swimming pool be covered up to convert the area for the press, White House reporters were crammed into an office inside the West Wing that now is used by National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley. 

But, relatively speaking, reporters, since the mid-20th century, have had less access to the president than their predecessors.  In the late 19th century, reporters covering the White House enjoyed the use of a small office just down the hall from the president’s bedroom on the second floor of the White House.

The relationship between U.S. presidents and the press often has been rocky.  Before becoming the third U.S. president in 1801, Thomas Jefferson, a longstanding champion of individual freedom, wrote in 1786 that "Our liberty cannot be guarded but by the freedom of the press, nor that be limited without danger of losing it."

But in 1819, nearly 10 years after his final experience with public office, he quipped, "Advertisements ... contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper."

At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, President Bush said he was looking forward to touring the new press working spaces, but until now he has not ventured beyond the briefing room podium.

“As a matter of fact, I've always felt comfortable behind the podium in front of you, kind of as a shield,” he joked.

A transcript of the president’s remarks is available on the White House Web site.