Annette Goodman
Rhetorical Criticism:
Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Re-dedication Speech
Statue of Liberty’s Fiftieth Anniversary
At Bedloe Island in New York Harbor (later to be renamed Liberty Island), on
October 28, 1936, at 2:00pm, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt gave a speech on
the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the dedication of the Statue of Liberty. The
re-dedication ceremony was by invitation only and coordinated by The Department
of the Interior National Park Service and the Statue of Liberty Fiftieth Anniversary
Committee (Franklin D. Roosevelt Day by Day – October).
The speech was an important one as it reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to
peace during a time of world crisis as war was approaching. 1936 was a time of
great international tension. Adolf Hitler had risen to power and begun to violate the
Treaty of Versailles in several ways. Hitler had started to build an army as he
withdrew from the League of Nations, established after World War I to maintain
world peace. One of Hitler’s first acts of aggression was to militarize the Rhineland
in March of 1936 (Marquess of Lothian).
Against this backdrop, Roosevelt reconstituted the Statue of Liberty from a statue
that symbolized liberty to a statue that symbolizes peace, as well as liberty. The
statue had always symbolized friendships between nations and Roosevelt’s speech
was a call for world peace.
The speech also redirected the American public’s attention from their fears
regarding actions in Europe, to a reminder of the success of the American people in
creating a democracy that stands as an example to all others.
Lastly, given Roosevelt’s conservative approach to immigration, Roosevelt artfully
utilized ideographs to justify his policies. Roosevelt framed America as a place that
was destined to give humankind a second chance at creating a just civilization, a
democracy, and then stated that the United States had enough human material to
accomplish this task and therefore, it needed no new immigrants. Roosevelt made
reference to the shared text of the first explorers who dreamt of a better life, all the
while emphasizing the creation of this New World where democracy would flourish
as more important than America acting as a safe haven for refugees.
Roosevelt’s use of this ideograph diverted his criticizers’ attention from his closeddoor immigration policy in the face of Nazi anti-Semitism, to his abilities to lead the
nation in a time of serious impending international conflict. The Statue of Liberty
had come to be associated with freedom and liberty from persecution, which was
synonymous with the United States’ acceptance of refugees. Between 1892 and
1954, 12 million immigrants entered the United States via neighboring Ellis Island,
with the Statue of Liberty acting as their welcome to the U.S. (Fenner) and, as a
result, the statue became a symbol of immigration. Roosevelt’s speech clearly
reframed the issue.
A French law professor and politician conceived of the idea of The Statue of Liberty
in 1865. Edouard de Laboulaye’s goal was to foster the bond between France and
the United States on their common ideals of freedom and independence and to
commemorate the Franco-American alliance during the American Revolution. Artist
Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi was commissioned to design the sculpture. The statue
was a joint effort between America and France, and therefore, America built the
pedestal and France, the statue itself. The full name of the statue is Liberty
Enlightening the World (Fenner). In order to transport the statue the figure was
disassembled in to 350 pieces in 214 crates (The Statue of Liberty Arrived at
Bedloe’s Island June 19, 1885).
Laboulaye conceived of the idea of the statue in hopes that the French would be
inspired by America’s commitment to freedom and democracy, and peacefully
pursue the same effort in France. At the time the French people were divided
between support for the monarchy and Enlightenment ideals of the natural right to
life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness (Statue of Liberty, The French Connection).
Franklin Delano Roosevelt opened his speech with a quote from President Grover
Cleveland’s speech as he accepted the gift of the statue from the French people fifty
years earlier. "We will not forget that liberty has here made her home; nor shall her
chosen altar be neglected." Roosevelt went on to say that, as Americans, they had
not forsaken the covenant of freedom.
After referencing the gift from France and the ideals of liberty that the statue
originally represented, Roosevelt spoke of the irony of the origination of this
country. Four hundred years ago, when there was no hope for liberty in Europe or
Asia, rulers were in need of gold to pay for their armies and to increase their power
over the common people and so they sent men in search of riches around the world.
This thirst for power was the ruling class’s downfall as the seafaring men, while in
search for gold, found their freedom.
Roosevelt then proudly spoke of the generations of men and women who came to
this new land. He called them people of courage, as they were the ones who had
abandoned the comforts of family and a familiar language to start anew in an
unchartered land without money or the knowledge of what was required in the new
civilization. He spoke of the pioneers’ common language of ‘aspiration’ and his tone
was one of gratitude to the many people who had built this country as a beacon of
liberty for all.
At this point in the speech Roosevelt’s tone shifted slightly to a defensive one.
Roosevelt defended his closed-door immigration policy in the U.S. by stating that the
stream of immigrants had largely stopped in the current generation because the
United States had “within our shores today the materials out of which we shall
continue to build an even better home for liberty.” As a low point in his speech,
Roosevelt dismissed the need for immigration, stating that America had the human
material it needed to perfect democracy, as stated above.
Roosevelt continued his speech with an attempt to unite all Americans, stating that
they were all bound “by hope of a common future rather than by reverence for a
common past.” He further stated that American unity knows no match in the world.
Given the taut political climate, just days before Roosevelt’s second presidential
election, as will be discussed below, Roosevelt was attempting to appeal to the
ideals of all Americans.
Roosevelt then reconstituted the statue from a Goddess of Liberty to a Goddess of
Peace. He referenced the French and their desire for peace in creating a democratic
country in the mid-1800s and claimed that President Cleveland recognized that the
statue symbolized peace when he accepted the gift fifty years prior. Roosevelt called
on the then French ambassador, Andre Lefebvre de La Boulaye’s relationship to
Edouard de Laboulaye, as grandson, as further proof that the statue was meant to
represent peace, in addition to liberty.
Roosevelt ended with a confident note about the future of the United States. He
stated that the “richness of the promise has not run out.”
One of the most inspiring passages of the speech, as quoted below, evokes the
emotion Roosevelt tried to elicit in his audience.
It is the memory of all these eager seeking millions that makes this one of
America's places of great romance. Looking down this great harbor I like to
think of the countless numbers of inbound vessels that have made this port. I
like to think of the men and women who, with the break of dawn off Sandy
Hook, have strained their eyes to the west for a first glimpse of the New
World.
Referring to America as a place of great romance dulls people’s anger and
resentment at his policies, and reminding Americans that their forefathers excitedly
strained for a glimpse of this New World primes Americans to feel gratitude that
they are part of this great nation.
Roosevelt repeatedly referred to America as mankind’s second chance. Humanity
had spoiled its first chance at decency with its construction of monarchies, and the
United States, the New World, was its second chance at civilization, an opportunity
to right a wrong.
Roosevelt’s reference to the Forty-Niners requires an explanation. Roosevelt
compared all Americans to the Forty-Niners when he said, “We can say for all
America what the Californians say of the Forty-Niners: ‘The cowards never started
and the weak died by the way’." In 1849, gold-seekers faced substantial hardships to
travel to the West Coast to pan for gold during the California Gold Rush (California
Gold Rush).
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a Democrat, was the only U.S. President to be elected
four times. He led the U.S. through the Great Depression and World War II.
Roosevelt was born to a privileged lifestyle in 1882, an only son who was doted on.
He attended Harvard University and then Columbia University Law School.
Roosevelt began his political career as a New York State Senator in 1910, at the age
of 28. In 1912 Roosevelt was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy where he
founded the U.S. Naval Reserve (Franklin D. Roosevelt Biography).
After a few unsuccessful campaigns (U.S. Senate seat for New York and Vice
President), and a polio diagnoses, Roosevelt regained his confidence and zeal, and
ran for, and was elected governor of New York in 1928, where he instituted a variety
of social programs. His philosophy of the importance of government intervention to
provide economic relief, recovery and reform won him the presidency in 1932 as
Republicans were being blamed for the Great Depression (Franklin D. Roosevelt
Biography).
In his first 100 days as president, Roosevelt launched New Deal domestic programs
in response to the Great Depression. The programs included bank stabilization, job
creation, and investment in public works such as highways, bridges, hospitals and
parks. “The New Deal touched every state, city and town, improving the lives of
ordinary people and reshaping the public sphere” (The New Deal).
In his third term, Roosevelt led the United Stated to victory in WWII and encouraged
the creation of the United Nations. Although Roosevelt was elected to a fourth term,
the stress of the war killed him in 1945, at the age of 63, with a massive cerebral
hemorrhage (Franklin D. Roosevelt Biography).
The Statue of Liberty re-dedication speech was given in October 1936, just six days
before Roosevelt’s bid for a second term as president. The political climate was
challenging and Roosevelt’s speech had to consider his opponents from the left who
were angry that the immigration ban had not been lifted after the Great Depression,
and disaffected business tycoons within his own party. Those no longer willing to
support Roosevelt formed their own political organization called the American
Liberty League. The organization opposed Roosevelt’s New Deal and their definition
of liberty was freedom from government intervention. As a result of all the
controversy around immigration and social reforms, 6 days before his election,
Roosevelt had to find another focus for his re-dedication speech. For this reason,
Roosevelt focused on a timeless and uncontroversial goal of the American people peace (Koed 134-142).
Samuel Irving Rosenman, a lawyer, was a key speechwriter for Roosevelt during his
second campaign for presidency and it is likely he was highly involved in the writing
of this speech (Samuel Irving Rosenman).
In a New York Times article, James Benet greatly criticized Roosevelt and his speech
by asking: how could Roosevelt speak of liberty so duplicitously when the doors of
America were closed to Hitler’s victims. Benet emphasized that 1936 was a time of
national and international crisis. Immigration had ceased during the Great
Depression but Hitler’s anti-Semitic policies greatly increased the number of
refugees seeking asylum and Roosevelt remained deaf on the subject (Koed 134142).
The American public, on the other hand, crowded to see the president on a 30-mile
route through three boroughs of New York as part of his campaign strategy that
same week. Crowds were estimated between 300,000 and 500,000 at each stop in
Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island. The New York Times reported Roosevelt’s
welcome as extremely warm throughout the City, with the exception of a small
crowd of booers at lower Broadway. Roosevelt confidently waved to the crowds
from his automobile procession while ticker tape and confetti rained down upon
him from the buildings above (Porter).
Ultimately, Roosevelt’s opponents on all sides were defeated as Roosevelt won his
second term as President of the United States, and of course, a subsequent third and
unprecedented fourth term.
Today, the Statue of Liberty remains a symbol of liberty and stirs the desire for
freedom the world over.
References:
“California Gold Rush.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.
8 Aug. 2015. Web. 7 Aug. 2015.
Fenner, Louise. “Lady Liberty: 125 Years as Icon of Freedom.” U.S. Department of
State IIP Digital 26 Oct. 2011. Web. 6 Aug. 2015.
“Franklin D. Roosevelt Biography.” A&E Television Networks Bio.” Web. 7 Aug. 2015.
“Franklin D. Roosevelt Day by Day – October.” In Roosevelt History: Sharing the
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum Collections and Programs 10
Oct . 2012. Web. 7 Aug. 2015.
Koed, Elizabeth. “A Symbol Transformed: How ‘Liberty Enlightening the World’
Became ‘The Mother of Exiles’.” The Social Contract 2.3 (1992) : 134-142.
Marquess of Lothian. “The World Crisis of 1936.” Foreign Affairs Oct 1936. Web. 7
Aug. 2015.
Porter, Russell B. “300,000 See President.” The New York Times 29 Oct. 1936. Web. 6
Aug. 2015.
“Samuel Irving Rosenman.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc. 8 May 2015. Web. 6 Aug. 2015.
“Statue of Liberty, The French Connection.” National Park Service, U.S. Department of
the Interior. Web. 7 Aug. 2015.
“The New Deal.” The Living New Deal: Still Working for America. Web. 27 July 2015.
“The Statue of Liberty Arrived at Bedloe’s Island June 19, 1885.” Library of Congress.
Web. 8 Aug. 2015.