1/6: FDR "Four Freedoms" on this day in 1941

[Nic Name]

THE FOUR FREEDOMS

delivered by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, on January 6, 1941


Mr. Speaker, members of the 77th Congress :

I address you, the members of this new Congress, at a moment
unprecedented in the history of the union. I use the word
"unprecedented" because at no previous time has American
security been as seriously threatened from without as it is
today.

...

In the future days which we seek to make secure, we look
forward to a world founded upon four essential human
freedoms.

The first is freedom of speech and expression --everywhere
in the world.

The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his
own way-- everywhere in the world.

The third is freedom from want, which, translated into world
terms, means economic understandings which will secure to
every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants
--everywhere in the world.

The fourth is freedom from fear, which, translated into
world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to
such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation
will be in a position to commit an act of physical
aggression against any neighbor --anywhere in the world.

That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite
basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and
generation. That kind of world is the very antithesis of
the so-called "new order" of tyranny which the dictators
seek to create with the crash of a bomb.

To that new order we oppose the greater conception --the
moral order. A good society is able to face schemes of
world domination and foreign revolutions alike without fear.
Since the beginning of our American history we have been
engaged in change, in a perpetual, peaceful revolution, a
revolution which goes on steadily, quietly, adjusting itself
to changing conditions without the concentration camp or the
quicklime in the ditch. The world order which we seek is
the cooperation of free countries, working together in a
friendly, civilized society.

This nation has placed its destiny in the hands, heads and
hearts of its millions of free men and women, and its faith
in freedom under the guidance of God. Freedom means the
supremacy of human rights everywhere. Our support goes to
those who struggle to gain those rights and keep them. Our
strength is our unity of purpose.

To that high concept there can be no end save victory.

Fifty years later, GWB made his famous speech to Congress,
the nation and the world, following the attacks of September 11.

[Hubris Boy]

Since the beginning of our American history we have been
engaged in change, in a perpetual, peaceful revolution, a
revolution which goes on steadily, quietly, adjusting itself
to changing conditions without the concentration camp or the
quicklime in the ditch.

Two down, one to go.

Thank you for sharing Roosevelt Minor's 1941 State of the Union address, in which he called for massive increases in military spending. That was your point, wasn't it?

[jaguar]

Very ironic in this day and age.

[tw]

Originally posted by Hubris Boy
Thank you for sharing Roosevelt Minor's 1941 State of the Union address, in which he called for massive increases in military spending. That was your point, wasn't it?

I too have been waiting to learn the point of the topmost post. Having not heard any response, the one thing that yells out at me - two different presidential speeches. The 1940 speech was concise, explicit, to the point, and extremely clear (especially the four freedoms). The George Jr speech meandered, was vague, was many times longer, defined some key points but the rest of the speech had little attachement to those key points.

IOW FDR's speech - beautiful. George Jr's speech - what really did he want to say? If the WTC/ Pentagon disaster was akin to Pearl Harbor, then a President's speech should have targeted those objectives in laser like precision. FDR's 'Day of Infamy' speech did just that. The cited George Jr speech, weeks later, is still and unfortunately without backbone in a time when speeches are expected to be firm and explicit.

[Nic Name]

The point of the topmost post was to draw the attention of a modern audience, most of whom were not even born before January 6, 1941, to a very historic speech ... on the anniversary of its delivery. I think that speech has contemporary relevance, as well as historical significance.

The Four Freedoms speech was certainly in the minds of presidential speech writers, and the President, when he delivered his speech following the September 11 attacks.

These speeches invite comparison, as you have, tw.

There are clear differences: FDR was speaking pre-Pearl Harbor, though the threat to America of the war in Europe was clear at that time to the government, if not to the people. GWB was speaking post-9/11 to a world audience that felt the immediate threat. Also, it was post FDR's much studied "Four Freedoms" speech, which is recognized as a defining moment for that President. So what impact did FDR's speech and the ensuing attack on Pearl Harbor have on the words and delivery of GWB's speech?

But there are similarities: both Presidents used their speeches to rally the support of the nation to an escalating war effort. That point is remarked by Hubris Boy, above.

I'm sure there are many points for comparison. I wonder what the communty in the Cellar, especially the Politics forum, thinks about these speeches in the context of current events.

So, the point of the topmost post was to evoke analysis and comparisons of the two speeches, as you have done. I'm sure others in the Cellar have thoughts on this, and I'm very interested. Not everyone cares for hard thinking, and I don't always, but for those that do, this could be as good a discussion as any in this Politics forum.

tw, thanks for weighing in on the analysis.

These two speeches delivered fifty years apart, read together today, may also stimulate discussion of how times have changed politically, and how they haven't.

As you point out, tw, FDR's A Date Which Will Live In Infamy speech, post Pearl Harbor, is also worth comparing in this analysis. In fact, students of that speech have analysed and compared it to Patrick Henry's revolutionary Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death speech. And perhaps there are points in JFK's inaugural address of January 20, 1961 that are as relevant today even though the circumstances are completely different. I think that famous speech must also have been on the table, along with FDR's speeches, when GWB's writers were trying to figure out what the hell to say on September 20, 2001, knowing it may be the defining speech of his presidency.

Which begs the question: will it be?

[Nic Name]

an absolutely fabulous website to research original documents on Law, History and Diplomacy is the Avalon Project at Yale Law School. I wish I'd had research tools like this when I was in school? Isn't the Internet wonderful?

[Edna]

I agree that clear, focused speeches are no longer to be found. It is a shame actually as what people want to hear in times of crisis is not who is to blame, this is just a first impulse it is rather that we are strong enough that we can cope with the situation and that we know what we are fighting for.
The comparison between the two speeches is really interesting and it seems that the claim made in this post is right it is enough to say we are strong, we are important no one should dare attack us and live, a more realistic perspective is needed as to the need to know that the fight might be long and we know what we are fighting for.