Roosevelt’s "Four Freedoms" speech of 1941 described the grave danger that a victory for Nazi Germany and fascist Italy would pose for all democratic countries:
Every realist knows that the democratic way of life is at this moment being directly assailed in every part of the world——assailed either by arms or by secret spreading of poisonous propaganda by those who seek to destroy unity and promote discord in nations still at peace. During sixteen months this assault has blotted out the whole pattern of democratic life in an appalling number of independent nations, great and small. The assailants are still on the march, threatening other nations, great and small. (p. 4-5)
He argued for the unique character of the situation, in which the survival of U.S. democracy depended on the results of an armed struggle taking place beyond the U.S. borders:
… I find it necessary to report that the future and the safety of our country and of our democracy are overwhelmingly involved in events far beyond our borders. Armed defense of democratic existence is now being gallantly waged in four continents. If that defense fails, all the population and all the resources of Europe, Asia, Africa and Australasia will be dominated by the conquerors. (p. 5)
He warned his fellow citizens against trusting the appeasers by pointing out the futility of believing the promises made by dictators and the failures of appeasement attempts inspired by a quest for security and survival at any price or by material interests:
No realistic American can expect from a dictator’s peace international generosity, or return of true independence, or world disarmament, or freedom of expression, or freedom of religion – or even good business. (p. 6)
Roosevelt inveighed further against those trying to profit of off connections with fascist governments:
We must especially beware of that small group of selfish men who would clip the wings of American eagle in order to feather their own nests. (p. 7)
Suggesting that the U.S. should become an arsenal of democracy itself and arm other democratic countries, particularly Britain, Roosevelt urged,
Let us say to the democracies: “We Americans are vitally concerned in your defense of freedom. We are putting forth our energies, our resources and our organizing powers to give you the strength to regain and maintain a free world. We shall send you, in ever-increasing numbers, ships, planes, tanks, guns. This is our purpose and our pledge. (p. 15)
Roosevelt called on U.S. citizens to mobilize for the defense of the country. In this moment of extreme danger, Roosevelt stressed the need for internal unity and supported the creation of a “good society” that would help individuals to identify with a common purpose by first addressing their basic, existential needs: equality, justice, security, employment, and civil liberties:
For there is nothing mysterious about the foundations of a healthy and strong democracy. The basic things expected by our people of their political and economic systems are simple. They are:
Equality of opportunity for youth and for others.
Jobs for those who can work.
Security for those who need it.
The ending of special privilege for the few.
The preservation of civil liberties for all.
The enjoyment of the fruits of scientific progress in a wider and constantly rising standard of living….
The inner and abiding strength of our economic and political systems is dependent upon the degree to which they fulfill these expectations.(pp. 18-19)
Roosevelt pointed out that only such “good society” can be stable and face impending danger without fear, because people in such a society know that it works for them and will support it against totalitarian dictatorships and revolutionary extremism:
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 a 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. (p. 21)
Roosevelt’s reflections remain relevant in our own time, when democracies are beset by growing social inequality and ideological divisions and have to face the threats of international terrorism, the arms race, and conflicts among nuclear powers across the world.
The references in this text are to a copy of Roosevelt’s speech available on the website of the FDR presidential library at www.fdrlibrary.org.
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