The press has always played an essential role in American politics.

But how has the access to our nation's highest office evolved?

Before press secretaries, news conferences, podcasts and late night talk shows.

The goings on in the White House were not widely known, until one day, William W Price began waiting just outside the gates in hopes of catching inside scoops from those who had just met with the president.

His column, first published in 1897, was titled ‘At the White House, and it was so popular that other journalists began to wait outside the gates for their own stories.

As time passed, President William McKinley would let them inside to participate in press briefings with the secretary, a practice and primary source of news that still exists today.

While newsmen were now walking in the halls of the White House, there wasn't truly a place for them until 1902, when Theodore Roosevelt had a room created for the press during the construction of the West Wing.

While the room was small and had just three telephones, it signified a massive turning point in White House coverage.

Roosevelt enjoyed chatting with journalists and would often use his unprecedented access to them to his advantage.

Price wrote that Roosevelt left many a political corpse in the arena by beating the other fellow to the newspaper.

As the White House expanded its use of the press, its relationship with them became more formal.

In 1913, President Woodrow Wilson would host the first of many formal press conferences, with over 100 reporters in attendance.

But a year later, rumors were circulating that a congressional committee may step in to dictate which reporters would have access.

Seeing the risk of censorship on the horizon for himself and his colleagues, William Price helped to create the White House Correspondents Association.

The initial mission of the WHCA was to ensure the continuation of these regular meetings with the press, but their role expanded to negotiating press access and credentials.

In the mid 1950s, Eisenhower would become the first president to film his press conferences, and a few years later, JFK would broadcast his conferences live.

Now was no longer enough for the president to simply inform the public.

They also needed to perform for the camera.

In 1969, President Richard Nixon created a dedicated White House briefing room, which, fun fact is directly over FDRs swimming pool.

Finally, in 1979, a nonprofit known as the Cable Satellite Public Affairs Network, or C-Span for short, was created, meaning White House briefings and congressional proceedings could be viewed in full by anyone.

In February 2025, the White House announced that the WHCA would no longer determine which outlets are allowed access to the president.

That same month, they banned the Associated Press from White House events for continuing to use the term Gulf of Mexico, which was renamed to the Gulf of America in an executive order by President Trump in the previous month.

By October, journalists were no longer allowed on the second floor of the White House, where the press secretary's office resides.

At the same time, the Pentagon mandated that news organizations sign a new list of restrictive policies.

Over 30 major organizations refused and gave up their access.

While things are a lot different for the journalists of today than they were for William Price in 1897, the press will always be an essential tool for any administration, whether they work inside the halls of the White House or at the gates of the North Lawn.