FDR’s First Inaugural Address, March, 1933
In the field of world policy I would dedicate this Nation to the policy of the good neighbor—the neighbor who resolutely
respects himself and, because he does so, respects the rights of others—the neighbor who respects his obligations and
respects the sanctity of his agreements in and with a world of neighbors.
If I read the temper of our people correctly, we now realize as we have never realized before our interdependence on
each other; that we can not merely take but we must give as well; that if we are to go forward, we must move as a trained
and loyal army willing to sacrifice for the good of a common discipline, because without such discipline no progress is
made, no leadership becomes effective. We are, I know, ready and willing to submit our lives and property to such
discipline, because it makes possible a leadership which aims at a larger good. This I propose to offer, pledging that the
larger purposes will bind upon us all as a sacred obligation with a unity of duty hitherto evoked only in time of armed
strife.
FDR’s Fireside Chat-Greater Freedom and Greater Security, September, 1934
I still believe in ideals. I am not for a return to that definition of Liberty under which for many years a free people were
being gradually regimented into the service of the privileged few. I prefer and I am sure you prefer that broader definition
of Liberty under which we are moving forward to greater freedom, to greater security for the average man than he has
ever known before in the history of America.
Franklin D. Roosevelt's "Quarantine" Speech, October 5, 1937
…The political situation in the world, which of late has been growing progressively worse, is such as to cause
grave concern and anxiety to all the peoples and nations who wish to live in peace and amity with their neighbors.
…The landmarks, the traditions which have marked the progress of civilization toward a condition of law and
order and justice are being wiped away.
Without a declaration of war and without warning or justification of any kind, civilians, including vast numbers
of women and children, are being ruthlessly murdered with bombs from the air. In times of so-called peace,ships are
being attacked and sunk by submarines without cause or notice. Nations are fomenting and taking sides in civil warfare
in nations that have never done them any harm. Nations claiming freedom for themselves deny it to others.
Innocent peoples, innocent nations are being cruelly sacrificed to a greed for power and supremacy which is
devoid of all sense of justice and humane considerations.
…if we are to have a world in which we can breathe freely and live in amity without fear - then the peace-loving
nations must make a concerted effort to uphold laws and principles on which alone peace can rest secure.
The peace-loving nations must make a concerted effort in opposition to those violations of treaties and those
ignorings of human instincts which today are creating a state of international anarchy and instability from which there is
no escape through mere isolation or neutrality.
Those who cherish their freedom and recognize and respect the equal right of their neighbors to be free and live
in peace, must work together for the triumph of law and moral principles in order that peace, justice, and confidence may
prevail throughout the world. There must be a return to a belief in the pledged word, in the value of a signed treaty. There
must be recognition of the fact that national morality is as vital as private morality.
…Nevertheless, my friends, I am compelled, as you are compelled, to look ahead. The peace, the freedom, and
the security of 90 per cent of the population of the world is being jeopardized by the remaining 10 per cent who are
threatening a breakdown of all international order and law. Surely the 90 per cent who want to live in peace under law
and in accordance with moral standards that have received almost universal acceptance through the centuries, can and
must find some way to make their will prevail.
…It seems to be unfortunately true that the epidemic of world lawlessness is spreading.
And mark this well: When an epidemic of physical disease starts to spread, the community approves and joins in a
quarantine of the patients in order to protect the health of the community against the spread of the disease.
It is my determination to pursue a policy of peace and to adopt every practicable measure to avoid involvement
in war. It ought to be inconceivable that in this modern era, and in the face of experience, any nation could be so foolish
and ruthless as to run the risk of plunging the whole world into war by invading and violating, in contravention of solemn
treaties, the territory of other nations that have done them no real harm and are too weak to protect themselves
adequately. Yet the peace of the world and the welfare and security of every nation are today being threatened by that
very thing.
No nation which refuses to exercise forbearance and to respect the freedom and rights of others can long remain
strong and retain the confidence and respect of other nations. No nation every loses its dignity or its good standing by
conciliating its differences, and by exercising great patience with, and consideration for, the rights of other nations.
War is a contagion, whether it be declared or undeclared. It can engulf states and peoples remote from the
original scene of hostilities. We are determined to keep out of war, yet we cannot insure ourselves against the disastrous
effects of war and the dangers of involvement. We are adopting such measures as will minimize our risk of involvement,
but we cannot have complete protection in a world of disorder in which confidence and security have broken down.
If civilization is to survive, the principles of the Prince of Peace must be restored. Shattered trust between nations must
be revived.
Most important of all, the will for peace on the part of peace-loving nations must express itself to the end that
nations that may be tempted to violate their agreements and the rights of others will desist from such a course. There
must be positive endeavors to preserve peace.
FDR’s Presidential Address on the Radio-September 3, 1939
You must master at the outset a simple but unalterable fact in modern foreign relations between nations. When
peace has been broken anywhere, the peace of all countries everywhere is in danger.
It is easy for you and for me to shrug our shoulders and to say that conflicts taking place thousands of miles from
the continental United States, and, indeed, thousands of miles from the whole American Hemisphere, do not seriously
affect the Americas -- and that all the United States has to do is to ignore them and go about (our) its own business.
Passionately though we may desire detachment, we are forced to realize that every word that comes through the air,
every ship that sails the sea, every battle that is fought does affect the American future.
Let no man or woman thoughtlessly or falsely talk of America sending its armies to European fields. At this
moment there is being prepared a proclamation of American neutrality. This would have been done even if there had
been no neutrality statute on the books, for this proclamation is in accordance with international law and in accordance
with American policy.
This will be followed by a Proclamation required by the existing Neutrality Act. And I trust that in the days to
come our neutrality can be made a true neutrality.
It is of the utmost importance that the people of this country, with the best information in the world, think things
through. The most dangerous enemies of American peace are those who, without well-rounded Information on the whole
broad subject of the past, the present and the future, undertake to speak with assumed authority, to talk in terms of
glittering generalities, to give to the nation assurances or prophecies which are of little present or future value.
I myself cannot and do not prophesy the course of events abroad -- and the reason is that because I have of
necessity such a complete picture of what is going on in every part of the world, that I do not dare to do so. And the other
reason is that I think it is honest for me to be honest with the people of the United States.
I cannot prophesy the immediate economic effect of this new war on our nation but I do say that no American
has the moral right to profiteer at the expense either of his fellow citizens or of the men, the women and the children who
are living and dying in the midst of war in Europe.
Some things we do know. Most of us in the United States believe in spiritual values. Most of us, regardless of
what church we belong to, believe in the spirit of the New Testament -- a great teaching which opposes itself to the use of
force, of armed force, of marching armies and falling bombs. The overwhelming masses of our people seek peace -peace at home, and the kind of peace in other lands which will not jeopardize our peace at home.
We have certain ideas and certain ideals of national safety and we must act to preserve that safety today and to
preserve the safety of our children in future years.
That safety is and will be bound up with the safety of the Western Hemisphere and of the seas adjacent thereto.
We seek to keep war from our own firesides by keeping war from coming to the Americas. For that we have historic
precedent that goes back to the days of the Administration of President George Washington. It is serious enough and
tragic enough to every American family in every state in the Union to live in a world that is torn by wars on other
Continents. And those wars today (they) affect every American home. It is our national duty to use every effort to keep
(them) those wars out of the Americas. And at this time let me make the simple plea that partisanship and selfishness be
adjourned; and that national unity be the thought that underlies all others.
This nation will remain a neutral nation, but I cannot ask that every American remain neutral in thought as well.
Even a neutral has a right to take account of facts. Even a neutral cannot be asked to close his mind or close his
conscience. I have said not once but many times that I have seen war and that I hate war. I say that again and again.
I hope the United States will keep out of this war. I believe that it will. And I give you assurance(s) and reassurance that
every effort of your Government will be directed toward that end. As long as it remains within my power to prevent,
there will be no blackout of peace in the United States.
Franklin D. Roosevelt: America, the Arsenal of Democracy, December 29, 1940
The experience of the past two years has proven beyond doubt that no nation can appease the Nazis. No man can
tame a tiger into a kitten by stroking it. There can be no appeasement with ruthlessness. There can be no reasoning with
an incendiary bomb. We know now that a nation can have peace with the Nazis only at the price of total surrender... The
history of recent years proves that the shootings and the chains and the concentration camps are not simply the transient
tools but the very altars of modern dictatorships. They may talk of a "new order" in the world, but what they have in
mind is only a revival of the oldest and the worst tyranny. In that there is no liberty, no religion, no hope…It is not a
government based upon the consent of the governed. It is not a union of ordinary, self-respecting men and women to
protect themselves and their freedom and their dignity from oppression. It is an unholy alliance of power and pelf to
dominate and to enslave the human race.
The people of Europe who are defending themselves do not ask us to do their fighting. They ask us for the
implements of war, the planes, the tanks, the guns, the freighters which will enable them to fight for their liberty and for
our security. Emphatically we must get these weapons to them in sufficient volume and quickly enough, so that we and
our children will be saved the agony and suffering of war which others have had to endure.
Let not the defeatists tell us that it is too late. It will never be earlier. Tomorrow will be later than today.
Certain facts are self-evident.
In a military sense Great Britain and the British Empire are today the spearhead of resistance to world conquest.
They are putting up a fight which will live forever in the story of human gallantry. There is no demand for sending and
American Expeditionary Force outside of our own borders. There is no intention by any member of your Government to
send such a force. You can, therefore, nail any talk about sending annies to Europe as deliberate truth. Our national
policy is not directed toward war. Its sole purpose is to keep war away from our country and our people...
Democracy's fight against world conquest is being greatly aided, and must be more greatly aided, by the
rearmament of the United States and by sending every ounce and every ton of munitions and supplies that we can
possibly spare to help the defenders who are in the front lines. It is no more unneutral for us to do that than it is for
Sweden, Russia and other nations near Germany, to send steel and ore and oil and other war materials into Germany
every day of the week.
We are planning our own defence with the utmost urgency; and in its vast scale we must integrate the war need
of Britain and the other free nations which are resisting aggression...
This nation is making a great effort to produce everything that is necessary in this emergency, and with all
possible speed. And this great effort requires great sacrifice. I would ask no one to defend a democracy which in turn
would not defend every one in the nation against want and privation.
But all of our present efforts are not enough. We must have more ships, more guns, more planes -- more of
everything. And this can be accomplished only if we discard the notion of "business as usual." This job cannot be done
merely by superimposing on the existing productive facilities the added requirements of the nation for defense. No
pessimistic policy about the future of America shall delay the immediate expansion of those industries essential to
defence. We need them. It is the purpose of the nation to build now with all possible speed every machine, every arsenal,
every factory that we need to manufacture our defense material. We have the menthe skill -the wealth and above all, the
will.
I am confident that if and when production of consumer or luxury goods in certain industries requires the use of
machines and raw materials that are essential for defense purposes, then such production must yield, and will gladly
yield, to our primary and compelling purpose.
I appeal to the owners of plants-to the managers-to the workers-to our own Government employees-to put every
ounce of effort into producing these munitions swiftly and without stint. With this appeal I give you the pledge that all of
us who are officers of your Government will devote ourselves to the same whole-hearted extent to the great task that lies
ahead.
As planes and ships and guns and shells are produced, your Government, with its defense experts, can then
determine how best to use them to defend this hemisphere. The decision as to how much shall be sent abroad and how
much shall remain at home must be made on the basis of our over-all military necessities.
We must be the great arsenal of Democracy. For us this is an emergency as serious as war itself. We must apply
ourselves to our task with the same resolution, the same sense of urgency, the same spirit of patriotism and sacrifice as
we would show were we at war.
Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill: The Atlantic Charter, August, 1941
The United States would not enter the war until after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. But by the
spring of 1941 Congress had approved the Lend Lease program, and the aid Roosevelt had promised at Charlottesville had
begun to flow to Great Britain, where Winston Churchill was now prime minister. In July 1941, Roosevelt and Churchill
met for the first time in Argentia Bay off Newfoundland, to issue a joint declaration on the purposes of the war against
fascism. Just as Wilson's Fourteen Points delineated the first war, so the Atlantic Charter provided the criteria for the
second.
Originally the Soviet Union, which had been attacked by Germany the month before, was to sign the charter as well. But
the notion of "one world," in which nations abandoned their traditional beliefs in and reliance upon military alliances and
spheres of influence, did not appeal to Joseph Stalin, and, in fact, neither was Churchill particularly thrilled. Only
Roosevelt, who had been a member of the Wilson administration, truly believed in the possibility of a world governed by
democratic processes, with an international organization serving as an arbiter of disputes and protector of the peace.
THE ATLANTIC CHARTER
The President of the United States of America and the Prime Minister, Mr. Churchill, representing His Majesty's
Government in the United Kingdom, being met together, deem it right to make known certain common principles in the
national policies of their respective countries on which they base their hopes for a better future for the world.
 First, their countries seek no aggrandizement, territorial or other;
 Second, they desire to see no territorial changes that do not accord with the freely expressed wishes of the peoples
concerned;
 Third, they respect the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they will live; and they
wish to see sovereign rights and self government restored to those who have been forcibly deprived of them;
 Fourth, they will endeavor, with due respect for their existing obligations, to further the enjoyment by all States,
great or small, victor or vanquished, of access, on equal terms, to the trade and to the raw materials of the world
which are needed for their economic prosperity;
 Fifth, they desire to bring about the fullest collaboration between all nations in the economic field with the object
of securing, for all, improved labor standards, economic advancement and social security;
 Sixth, after the final destruction of the Nazi tyranny, they hope to see established a peace which will afford to all
nations the means of dwelling in safety within their own boundaries, and which will afford assurance that all the
men in all the lands may live out their lives in freedom from fear and want;
 Seventh, such a peace should enable all men to traverse the high seas and oceans without hindrance;
 Eighth, they believe that all of the nations of the world, for realistic as well as spiritual reasons must come to the
abandonment of the use of force. Since no future peace can be maintained if land, sea or air armaments continue
to be employed by nations which threaten, or may threaten, aggression outside of their frontiers, they believe,
pending the establishment of a wider and permanent system of general security, that the disarmament of such
nations is essential. They will likewise aid and encourage all other practicable measures which will lighten for
peace-loving peoples the crushing burden of armaments.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Winston S. Churchill
Source: Samuel Rosenman, ed., Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt, vol.10 (1938-1950), 314.