Roosevelt's fireside chats reached audiences via radio. Approximately how many listeners did one such broadcast reach?

• A. Approximately 10 million listeners.
• B. Approximately 60 million listeners.
• C. Approximately 100 thousand listeners.
• D. Approximately 500 thousand listeners.

Answer: (B)

The key idea is how far a presidential message could travel through the mass medium of radio in the 1930s. Roosevelt used the fireside chats to speak directly to Americans in plain language, turning the president into a familiar voice in households across the country. On average, about 60 million people would tune in for a single broadcast, a huge audience that reflected radio’s reach and the public’s interest in hearing from the leader during the Depression. That scale helps explain why this answer is the best fit. The other numbers are far smaller than what those broadcasts could draw, given how widespread radio listening was at the time.