Hear, hear!

One of the items on display here at the Woodrow Wilson House is the microphone used by President Wilson to deliver his November 11, 1923 radio address to the American people--the first nationwide remote radio broadcast. Since a radio address is something that we listen to, we have to wonder, what did President Wilson sound like? Was his voice deep? High pitched? Did he have an accent?

Now, thanks to the National Jukebox Project from the Library of Congress, we have the opportunity to listen to Wilson speak. The following recordings date from 1912, the year Wilson ran for the President, and in each, he discusses popular issues of the day:

The 1912 Election having three parties...

Trusts...
Democratic principles...

As you can probably tell, President Wilson had no discernible regional accent; as a youth, he trained himself out of his Virginian accent when he practiced his oratory in his father's church daily. Please share with us what you think in the comments below!