During the United States' early years, there was not a single designated staff person or office responsible for managing the relationship between the president and the growing number of journalists and media entities that were covering him.

[2]: 3  It was not until after President Abraham Lincoln's administration that Congress formally appropriated funds for a White House staff, which at first consisted merely of a secretary.

Ulysses S. Grant's White House staff officially numbered six people at a cost of $13,800, though he supplemented with personnel from the War Department.

[2]: 3  One of Abraham Lincoln's private secretaries, John G. Nicolay, had been an editor and owner of a newspaper in Illinois before he worked for the president in the White House.

[2]: 7  In general, though coverage of the president could be harsh and opinionated, newspapers were to some degree extensions of the political party apparatus and subsequently not seen as entities requiring specific, sustained management by the White House or administration.

William W. Price, a southern reporter, auditioned for a job at the Washington Evening Star by stationing himself at the White House to seek out stories.

[2]: 11  He interviewed guests coming and going from meetings or events with the president and ultimately reported a story in a piece carrying the headline "At the White House".

[2]: 16  The correspondents relied on him for information and his tenure as private secretary was noteworthy for some of the same working traits modern press secretaries have become popular for,[4] including providing information to reporters later in the evening if events had transpired in the afternoon, offering advance copies of remarks prepared for the president, and ensuring reporters received transcripts of unprepared remarks made by the president while traveling, which were recorded by a stenographer.

[2]: 31  The press conferences were later discontinued after the sinking of British liner Lusitania, and despite attempts to revive them during his second term were held only sporadically during Wilson's final years in office.

[2]: 47  Hoover asked the White House Correspondents Association to form a committee to discuss matters pertaining to coverage of the White House and formalized news conferences, dividing presidential news into three different categories: George Akerson continued the tradition of meeting daily with reporters, and though usually of jovial temperament, was not known for the precision that was the hallmark of some of his predecessors, such as Cortelyou.

[2]: 53  As poor coverage made President Hoover appear detached and out of touch amidst a worsening depression, Richey and Akerson disagreed about the most effective press strategy, with Akerson promoting the idea that Hoover should leverage the increasingly influential platform of radio, and Richey arguing that the radio strategy was not worthy of the presidency.

[2]: 65 During the administration of presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, journalist Stephen Early became the first White House secretary charged only with press responsibilities.

[2]: 65  Prior to joining the Roosevelt campaign and administration Early had served as an editor to the military paper Stars and Stripes and also as a reporter for the Associated Press.

[2]: 67  When Roosevelt was nominated on James Cox's ticket as the vice presidential nominee in 1920, he asked Early to serve as an advance representative.

As an advance representative, Early traveled ahead of the campaign, arranged for logistics and attempted to promote positive coverage for the candidates.

Early also made himself available to the press corps as often as he could, and though he was not known for a lighthearted or amiable demeanor, he earned a reputation for responsiveness and openness, even having his own telephone number listed unlike some of those who held the job after him.

[2]: 71  He did away with written questions submitted in advance and mandated that nothing he said in press conferences could be attributed to him or the White House, but was instead intended for reporters' general background information.

[2]: 74–75  Early was criticized at times for attempting to closely manage press officers at various department and agencies across the government, and gave out a number of such jobs to journalists who he knew, instead of party loyalists who had traditionally received such appointments.

[2]: 75  A congressional investigation several years later revealed that across government, fewer than 150 employees were engaged in public relations along with an additional 14 part-time workers.

[2]: 74 Early was involved in Roosevelt taking advantage of the radio medium through his fireside chats, an idea some say he got from George Akerson who had unsuccessfully tried to convince President Hoover to do something similar.

[2]: 78 Early's tenure as press secretary was also marked by stringent restrictions on photographers, largely aimed at hiding the severity of FDR's polio and worsening immobility.

Hagerty's experience as a journalist helped him perform his role more effectively: "Having spent years as a reporter on the other side of the news barrier, he was not blinded to the reporter's dependence on deadlines, transmission facilities, prompt texts of speeches and statements and the frequent necessity of having to ask seemingly irrelevant and inconsequential questions", wrote John McQuiston in the New York Times".

[11] At Hagerty's first meeting with White House reporters on January 21, 1953, he laid down ground rules that are still largely a model for how the press secretary operates.

[11] When President Eisenhower suffered a heart attack in Denver in September 1955, and underwent abdominal surgery the following year, Hagerty brought news to the nation in a calm and professional manner.

Fourth is the respect the secretary has won from the press in terms of knowledge, credibility, clarity, promptness and ability to provide information on a wide range of policies.

Nixon throughout his career saw the press as the enemy, and the media responded in hostile fashion, leaving the young inexperienced Ronald Ziegler with a hopeless challenge.

At the opposite extreme, the successful Jody Powell had been a close advisor to Carter for years, and could explain clearly how the president reasoned about issues.