The first US President who took to texting may surprise you, and other White House tech tales

From George Washington to Donald Trump, Cybernews takes a walk through time to examine how new technology can shape a president's term in the Oval Office – for good or bad.

Technological advancements often change the course of history for society. However, it also impacts how a president, in any given administration, develops a personal relationship with the people he governs.

Whether it's Morse code, artificial intelligence, the Industrial Revolution, or the mobile phone, matching the history of US presidents with the new technological advancements of their era can be fun – and daunting. This is especially true given the many cutting-edge advancements bestowed upon the 20th century and the fact that we’re approaching US president number 47.

So, to keep it light, I have chosen the most impactful innovations to have made it to the White House and the US presidents who smartly took advantage of them. Did I use ChatGPT to make my list? I will not tell a lie. I did not, I just went to the White House Historical Association website.

We start with the unpredictable Donald Trump.

Trump and WALL-E over the next four years?

Obviously, the introduction of artificial intelligence, although at a rudimentary level now given its expected capabilities, will change how the entire world as we know it operates and will surely permeate Trump's time in office.

Ironically, though, according to a 2016 CNN report, Trump was widely known to be “skeptical of computers and emails” during his first term and actually preferred to use paper and pen for most communications.

Still, I predict that even Trump will find himself googling the latest ChatGPT prompts to incite the left, monetize his 14.9 million and counting TikTok followers, and use an AI Minutes premium account membership to summarize his cabinet meetings.

And let’s not forget; the man knows how to jeuje. He took the Obama administration’s social media strategy to another level by simply purchasing his own communication platform (Truth Social), giving him unfettered access to his supporters – and detractors.

Officially sworn in for his second term as US President on Monday morning, The Donald is unworried about getting re-elected for another term. This makes Trump truly the first US president, literally, who can say whatever the heck he wants, whenever he pleases, media and handlers be damned.

In 2023, Godfather of AI Professor Geoffrey Hinton, a steadfast voice of reason on the dangers of advancing AI technology too quickly, originally predicted that there was only a scant 10% chance that AI could catastrophically eliminate the human race over the next few decades. (Go humans!?)

But on December 27th, after taking another looksie, the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics winner sadly increased the odds of our inevitable demise, now giving the human race a 10-20% chance of getting wiped out by some Gen Alpha version of the Optimus humanoid robot.

Even so, coupled with the fact that AI superintelligence (proper term AGI) is thought to still be a decade away, the thought demagogues – on both sides of the aisle – can surely rest easy knowing that the end of the world probably won’t be happening under this Trump presidency, as some haters have predicted.

Instead, over the next four years, we’ll more likely be inundated with slightly orange-hued meme holograms of the 47th president preaching from his Truth Social soapbox (or TikTok) while Elon Musk flies back and forth from Texas to the White House in his fully autonomous self-driving Tesla-branded air taxi.

As for Trump's tech legacy, he could be the TikTok President or the first self-proclaimed “Crypto President” and the first known to dabble in bitcoin – we’ll just have to wait and see.

The texter and the telegraph

Although not a typical techie by any means, I felt it necessary to give a quick shout-out to America’s Founding Father, George Washington, especially because, according to a profile by tech consulting firm APN, the first President of the United States (1789-1797) was a “surprising pioneer” and “tech-savvy innovator of his time.”

Washington was apparently responsible for several innovations in farming, canal, and bridge construction, and because of the Revolutionary War, became an avid intelligence gatherer and disseminator, transmitting hundreds of messages using his own web of secret spies.

Washington's keen interest in science and engineering also led to close relationships with Benjamin Franklin, not only the inventor of the lightning rod but also of the world's first Meme, via the creation of the political cartoon. Pres. George also buddied up with fellow Founder and eventual 3rd US President, Thomas Jefferson, who happens to be the inventor of the first encryption device for “encoding and decoding messages,” known as the Cypher Wheel.

Franklin’s experiments with lightning bring us to the 23rd US President Benjamin Harrison (1889–1893), who was the first to install electric lighting in the White House, leading to the first officially lit White House Christmas tree, cementing the holiday tradition to this day.

But let’s not forget the great US President Abraham Lincoln (16th,1861-1865), who championed the Telegraph during the American Civil War against slavery, making him the first president to embrace wired messaging technology, although the portable device had been around for almost two decades.

According to the history books, Lincoln was so enamored with the ‘text over wire’ technology that not only did he create a dedicated telegraph office that helped win the war, but was said to have slept on a cot inside the room during major battles to personally send “1,000 bite-sized telegrams” to his commanders on the ground.

The fireside chatterer

Although President Warren G. Harding (29th, 1921–1923) was the first president to install a radio in the White House, it was President Franklin Delano Roosevelt who brought the power of the podcast to the American people.

Commonly known as FDR, the 32nd president (1933-1945) was infamously known for his weekly ‘Fireside Chats’ radio addresses during the height of World War 2.

During his presidency, the number of households that owned radios grew from 40% to 90%, allowing him direct access to the American people in a way never heard before.

FDR was noted to have purposefully chosen to instill a softer, soothing voice when broadcasting, using the opportunity to communicate domestic policy, reassurance, and direction, something the war-weary nation was eager to gobble up from their leader.

Several of his more memorable fireside chats were dated on December 9, 1941, when the US declared war on Japan for the attack of Pearl Harbor, and on June 6th, 1944, the day of the Allied invasion of Normandy, France, also known as D-Day. FDR decided to forgo his normal fireside chat in lieu of holding a national day of prayer for the US soldiers and allied forces at the battle.

Tragedy and television

Television, the next technology to follow radio, brought a slice of Hollywood to the presidential realm that, in some ways, has never really left.

Humans are visual creatures, and with John F. Kennedy’s poise, money, and good looks, he was a sure bet to become the nation’s 35th president from 1961 to his assassination on November 22nd, 1963.

During the Kennedy presidency, everything was caught on camera – the well-coiffed socialite wife, Jackie O; the scandalous birthday wishes from Marylin Monroe; JFK junior’s tender salute at his father’s funeral. The bite-size Instagram-like visuals and clips riveted a nation unable to peel its eyes away from its Panasonic color TV sets.

In fact, the four-day wall-to-wall coverage of the JFK assassination was America’s first taste of 24-hour news. CBS, NBC, and ABC provided non-stop news reporting and analysis to a thirsty audience that had not been truly repeated again until the World Trade Center attacks on September 11th, 2001.

Even decades later, it was said that President Ronald Reagan (40th, 1981-1989) purposefully relied upon his former acting skills, making sure he was tanned and groomed to look his best for the cameras during the election to woo the American people.

And, who could forget his most famous speech given at the Berlin Wall in 1987 calling for Russian leader Mr. Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall?" The broadcast, heard and seen around the world, was considered the most defining moment of Reagan's presidency, precipitating the fall of the Soviet Union two years later to mark the end of the Cold War.

The INTERNET PRESIDENT!

We next turn to the President credited with creating the internet (or at least bringing it to Capital Hill) – and no, it's not Vice President Al Gore – it's none other than America’s fan-favorite President Bill Clinton (1993-2001).

Clinton was the first president to use internet in the White House, the first to have his inauguration ceremony streamed online, and also, the first one to send an email, although there is some debate about who and when that email was sent.

According to a 2015 report in the Atlantic, the screaming ALL-CAPS email was sent to the Swedish Prime Minister in 1993 from Clinton’s personal AOL account using the snazzy email address [email protected].

And, even though the 42nd President got caught up in the wretched Dot-Com bubble burst of 2000 (and a torrid Oval Office affair with intern Monica Lewinsky, which almost got him impeached), his televised southern drawl, saxophone-playing skills and good nature gave him infinite staying power in the eyes of the American people.

The "You've Got Mail" President also became the first to create an official WhiteHouse.gov website, proving that the internet had officially entered the US government and was here to stay. (If we could only have predicted what was in store decades down the line.)

The BarneyCam softie

Interjecting into all this seriousness, one must give props to President George W. Bush (2002-2008) for his further contribution to the online era. Bush was the first president to introduce ‘we the people’ to the much-loved American pastime of endlessly watching funny animal videos.

In this scenario, the canine star was the 43rd President’s beloved black Scottish terrier, Barney. However, to note, it was Lincoln who had the first cat in the White House, sans video, of course. Either way, Barney was outfitted with a doggie cam around his neck and sent live-streaming from the front page of the official White House website during the Christmas holidays. Oh, Joy!

Barney, along with his fellow four-legged companion Ms. Beasley, and later Scotty, were said to have hosted numerous holiday videos from 2002 to 2008, all still watchable from the George W. Bush Library website. I mean, who wouldn’t want to watch “A Very Beasley Christmas?”

The Blackberry president and his ObamaPad

Finally, the President known for his triumphant foray into social media – and all from an outdated Blackberry – President Barack Obama (2009–2017).

Elected to office while still in his 40s, President Obama, or at least his Gen Z staffers, had a knack for connecting with the internet generation propelling him to become the hip presidential dad everyone wished they had.

Even if you weren't into his politics, the Obama camp's use of social media, especially Twitter, during the 2009 presidential campaign was something that had never been so carefully utilized with such savvy – you had to admire the strategy.

Obama was the first president to use email to directly communicate with potential voters, amassing a whopping 13.5 million email supporter list during the 2008 campaign, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

Even though Obama had said during his presidency that he didn't know how to Tweet and left it to his staff, he did use email to communicate with constituents throughout his time in office.

Obama famously fought to keep his personal BlackBerry, which was considered a huge security risk at the time. He even forced the White House to install WiFi, another first, although it was rumored to be spotty at best.

And, when Apple first introduced the iPad in 2010, Obama was said to be so smitten with the device that his administration and senior staff all got one too, a BBC report said.

To satisfy the President’s wishes, Obama’s National Security Council cybersecurity official told the BBC that “national-security advisers created the ObamaPad, a "hardened" more secure iPad, and had it replicated for his staff.”

He was also the first president to have his official photograph portrait taken with a digital camera, to record a podcast, and be referred to as the 'selfie President.' Who knew?