On March 12, 1933, American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) initiated his first national “fireside chat,” a mode of communication that sought to reroute information through the traditional journalistic route in favor of more direct contact. Roosevelt wanted to connect with the people, instead of letting publishing outlets interpret his policies publicly.
FDR's reign - which lasted far longer than any other president in American history due to his flaunting of the two-term gentlemen's agreement in place since Washington - was as close to fascism as the American system will permit. The checks and balances built by the American Framers of the constitution, and the relatively large size of the bureaucracy, simply don't allow for the excesses associated with actual fascist governance, but Roosevelt came awfully close, and his fireside chats played an important role in maintaining his power within the American system for such a long period of time.
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