On that day, President Harry S. Truman gave the first televised speech from the White House, asking Americans to help alleviate a world food crisis. On Oct. 5, 1947, in the first ever televised White House address, President Harry S. Truman asked Americans to refrain from eating meat on Tuesdays and poultry on Thursdays to help stockpile grain for starving people in Europe. Some presidents have been more effective at speaking directly to Americans, often in times of crisis, through White House addresses.