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Hey, history lovers.

I'm Mike Rosenwald with Retropod, a show about the past, rediscovered.

Good afternoon, everybody.

I know you are all eager to skip town and spend some time with your families.

Not surprisingly, I am too.

But you know what they say?

It's the most wonderful press conference of the year. Right now.

Around this time of year, we've grown accustomed to presidents taking questions from the press

before they head off for the holidays.

These holiday news conferences have, in recent years, become a Washington tradition,

a glass of political eggnog of sorts, and I

can't answer that fruitcake. You get the idea. Well, at least they were a tradition.

Last year, President Trump became the first president in 15 years to not hold a news conference before

heading off for the holidays.

Maybe he'll hold one this year.

Who knows?

Anyway, thinking about that tradition got us wondering, when did presidential press conferences

even become a thing?

...