Great Speeches by Franklin Delano Roosevelt & Dover Thrift Editions

Author:Franklin Delano Roosevelt & Dover Thrift Editions
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780486153612
Publisher: Dover Publications
Published: 2012-10-11T00:00:00+00:00

State of the Union Message to Congress (“The Four Freedoms”)

Washington, D.C., January 6, 1941

The military-political context of the debate over Lend-Lease in the winter of 1940-41 was the Battle of Britain raging night after night in the sky above England, with reports from the scene of that conflict appearing every day in American newspapers and newsreels. There is little question that sympathy with the British in this vital struggle for survival aided the fight for public opinion in support of Lend-Lease in America. Whatever may have been his private thoughts on the matter—many historians have written what now seems obvious, that by this time FDR could hardly have still believed that the Axis powers could be overthrown without the direct military intervention of the United States—he was still able to argue that making war materiel available to the British through Lend-Lease was the only way to avoid sending American soldiers to fight overseas. Winston Churchill got on the same bandwagon during this debate when in a broadcast to America he simply promised, “Give us the tools and we will finish the job.” The American public largely agreed, and after a few months of debate, Lend-Lease passed Congress by healthy majorities: 260 to 165 in the House, 60 to 31 in the Senate.

On January 6, 1941, the week after his “Arsenal of Democracy” Fireside Chat, while the Lend-Lease debate was in its early stages, Roosevelt delivered his State of the Union message to Congress. In it, he reiterated his position on the need to aid the world’s democracies in the struggle against fascism, and beyond that, outlined the philosophical basis of his position as head of a nation confronting the possibility of world war: “In future days,” he said, “which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.” These were freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. It was reported that applause in Congress was strong but somewhat subdued, not because anyone disagreed with the idea of the “Four Freedoms”—as this philosophical program became known—but because FDR’s words had brought home to his audience the gravity of the situation at that moment.

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