The Presidential Press Conference

In Ronald Reagan’s eight years as president, he held a total of 46 press conferences which is one of the lowest numbers compared to other presidencies. For example, in their eight years, Eisenhower and Clinton faced the press 193 times, Bush ’43 met with the White House Press corps 210 times and to date, Biden is at number nine. Although President Woodrow Wilson held the first presidential press conference on March 15,1913, the modern idea of a live, televised press conference dates basically from the Eisenhower Administration. Prior to that, the rules governing press conferences favored the president.