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Have All Recent Presidents Been Tech Savvy?

Margaret Lipman

Last Modified Date: February 18, 2024

These days, having an online presence is pretty much essential for any celebrity, and politicians are no different. Who can forget Donald Trump's constant tweets to his many Twitter followers?

However, it wasn't all that long ago that using the Internet was less of a necessity for public figures. In fact, former President Bill Clinton claims that during his eight years in office, he sent a grand total of two emails, as he preferred notes, phone calls, and meeting in person. Admittedly, email was just getting started in the 1990s, but even so, it was clearly not much to Clinton's liking.

And who were those lucky recipients? One was astronaut and U.S. Senator John Glenn, who Clinton congratulated when he returned to space in 1998 at age 77, and the other was addressed to U.S. troops serving abroad.

The birth of the electronic age:

Although Clinton claims to have sent just two emails himself, his administration generated some 40 million messages (mostly internal memos).

CERN made World Wide Web technology royalty-free in 1993, when there were just a few dozen websites on the Internet.

The first official version of the White House website was published on October 21, 1994.

Margaret Lipman is a teacher and blogger who frequently writes for WiseGEEK about topics related to personal finance, parenting, health, nutrition, and education. Learn more...

Margaret Lipman

Margaret Lipman is a teacher and blogger who frequently writes for WiseGEEK about topics related to personal finance, parenting, health, nutrition, and education. Learn more...