Donald Trump may be the most entertainment-driven president in American history. But he has a celebrity problem: his own.

In many ways, Trump is not unlike previous presidents who used the power of entertainment to win the White House. Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan all connected directly with voters by using new media technology to bypass the press and their party’s establishment. During the 2016 election, Trump combined reality-TV style with social media flair. His impulsiveness, outspokenness and arrogance made for great television and, surprisingly to seasoned politicos, translated into votes.

For these past presidents, however, publicity was a tool — not the end goal. They used entertainment strategies on the campaign trail to sell themselves. But once elected, they applied these tactics to sell a legislative agenda to the public, not a persona.

In the Oval Office, however, Trump is still preoccupied with himself. He talks often about his ratings, his brand and his crowd size. Unlike his media-savvy predecessors, Trump has yet to translate his persuasive showbiz campaign style into an effective leadership strategy.

Over the 20th century, the evolving advertising, public relations, and entertainment industries have given American presidents more ways to connect directly to voters. Presidents often worked with controversial figures and deployed risky strategies. But their goals in doing so from the Oval Office were largely policy driven.

Consider Franklin D. Roosevelt. Though his “Fireside Chats” have become legendary, Roosevelt’s collaboration with the motion picture industry was particularly innovative. His work with Hollywood was so effective, in fact, that critics feared it was dangerously close to the “dark magic” of Nazi Germany’s propaganda machine.

Just chatting. AP file

FDR’s Republican predecessors, Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover, had both experimented with advertising agencies and radio shows to get elected. But Roosevelt went one step further and turned to a controversial new entertainment medium — Hollywood — to bypass his critics in journalism and speak directly to the American people about his New Deal programs.

These ties were clear on the campaign trail. For example, Roosevelt’s friend and supporter, movie mogul Jack Warner welcomed the Democratic presidential nominee to Los Angeles with a huge parade spectacle in September of 1932. And the alliance continued after FDR won the White House. Warner rallied other studio chiefs to make short promotional films for New Deal legislation to be shown in movie theaters across the country.

Get the think newsletter. This site is protected by recaptcha

This was risky for Roosevelt. At a time when anti-Semitism was a deeply ingrained aspect of much of American society, the movie industry was largely run by Jewish immigrants. In addition, powerful Christian groups organized boycotts of films they saw as corrupting America’s youth. Roosevelt, however, remained close to an industry viewed by many elites as “seedy,” because he recognized that movie audiences were the very people he needed to reach: ethnic immigrant workers.

To help sell the New Deal’s alphabet programs Roosevelt also brought in political outsiders who were media experts. Reporter Stephen Early became the White House press secretary and negotiated the administration’s relationships with the press. Robert Sherwood, a celebrated playwright, signed on as presidential speechwriter. Former journalist Lowell Mellett ran the National Emergency Council during the Great Depression, then worked his way up the New Deal ladder to head the Bureau of Motion Pictures during World War II. These media pros helped make Roosevelt and his New Deal famous around the globe.