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" Charleston South Carolina"
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Location: home...finally, home .
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It was never made into a movie, but I found History Channel's episode about Franklin Roosevelt's December 8, 1941 speech mesmerizing. It showed how he wrote the famous words : "this is a day which shall live in infamy" alone and just from the top of his head and that he argued with his advisors against making the speech too long and laborious for his listeners whom he had needed to cajole into war.
But, most of all, it demonstrated the slow, painful and tortuous walk he took to the podium, stricken as he was with polio and unable to walk even one step on his own. It was every bit as moving as "The KIng's Speech".
What a brave and noble man. How much have we changed as a country that there are no more like him?
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People may not recall what you said to them, but they will always remember how you made them feel .
Ah, back when leaders were leaders, for good or ill...
Today it's practially unheard of for a high echeolon politician to write his/her own speech.
It was a very good show and worth the time to watch it. However, the only reason he personally wrote the speech was that all of his speech writers were out of town when the attack occurred and were trying to get back to the White House. I'm sure regardless of whether or not his speech team was there he would have taken a very active role in writing it, but he really didn't have a choice other than to do it himself. He basically called in his secretary and dictated the speech to her. She then typed it up and he worked through the revisions. The most famous line in the speech "live in infamy" was a revision and the original text read "live in history".
The other little interesting tidbit was FDR's snorting of cocaine that day to treat a raging sinus infection that he was dealing with. Maybe more Presidents would write their own speeches if we let them snort lines while doing it...
It showed how he wrote the famous words : "this is a day which shall live in infamy" ...
To be terribly picky, what Roosevelt wrote and said was (bolding added for emphasis):
"Yesterday, December 7th, 1941 -- a date which will live in infamy -- the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan."
I agree. Using just over 500 words, Roosevelt galvanized the United States into the beginnings of a giant war machine; one that was "filled with a terrible resolve." In short, the attack created the very thing that Admiral Yamamoto had warned the Japanese government about.
That was an awesome documentary, now sitting on the dvr for archiving. The beauty of the speech is it was simple and direct and from the heart. Today every word coming out of a politician's mouth has to be recorded by a spin jockey. Listen to the speeches most give, and think about the meaning, and how often when you get right down to it there IS none. It's all about letting you hear what you want to hear.
The things which touched me most in the documentary were the small bits of detail. How the sailors burned by the oil they jumped into were given painkillers and covered when they died. How the men of the Oklahoma bet on if they'd suffocate or drown first. The *sense* of how it felt wasn't intense but was communicated through the personal moments.
But what struck me most was even the next day, few real details were known. I was one of the few who didn't turn on the tv on 9-11 until late afternoon, and it is still so odd to me that in this information soaked world, I didn't know for hours, and it all hit at once. Just imagine if 9-11 had had details and rumors and bits and pieces leak out for days and how different it would have felt.
In the end, the portrait of the man, how he reacted to Pearl Harbor with calm, and deliberation, borne of his own private challenge, as others who have faced them do, and that most incredable LONG 'walk' to the podium. Roosevalt today would *still* feel as a public figure he was lessened by the chair, since we still see the disabled as 'different', but maybe its a greater courage to go out and be all you can be despite the hinderances of body.
I think his struggles with his body in some ways *made* him a man equipped to deal with the terrible challenges he faced with a world war.
I was one of the few who didn't turn on the tv on 9-11 until late afternoon, and it is still so odd to me that in this information soaked world, I didn't know for hours, and it all hit at once. Just imagine if 9-11 had had details and rumors and bits and pieces leak out for days and how different it would have felt.
I'm glad that someone else brought up the stark difference between 12/7/1941 and 9/11/2001. Both had the same world-changing potential . However, speaking solely of the long-term consequences of the US reaction, the former brought an amazing unity. The second produced the exact opposite.
FDR in polls of presidential historians and in polls taken of the American people consistently ranks around the #3 best president this country ever had. Only Washington and Lincoln rate higher and even that is questionable at times because in a few polls FDR comes out #2.
We were a much different country in 1941 than we are today. We were much more unified as a people. We were much less cynical. We were much more inclined to believe the President or other public officials when they spoke to us. Those are not necessarily "good qualities". However, at the time, they did serve us well. They work best, of course, when a competent and responsible chief executive is in office.
What made FDR a great President?
1. A tremendous ability to speak exemplified by his speech to Congress the day after Pearl Harbor. I also invite people to look up some of FDR's fireside chats. These were the days of radio and FDR had an enormous gift for being able to literally imagine his audience sitting around their radios listening to him as he spoke. He had a great ability to use metaphors and analogies that made sense to people without a lot of education or knowledge of complicated topics like economics or foreign policy. (My favorite was his analogy about lending a neighbor a garden hose to put our a fire as a justification for the Lend Lease Program).'
2. An ability or willingness to test the limits and experiment. When FDR took office he faced a hostile Supreme Court and other elements that felt that constitutionally the federal government should have very little power and shouldn't be be able to adopt policies that would end or ameliorate the Great Depression. One can argue over whether he was right or not in his interpretation of the Constitution. What one can't argue over is that he took risks. He did something different than his predecessors had done. When he took office in 1933 at a time of national crisis, he said that the most important thing was to not do nothing. It was more important to try things even if they failed than to do nothing at all.
3. A unique empathy with those who suffered in this country. FDR's predecessor, Herbert Hoover, repeatedly rejected any efforts to provide welfare or relief to those suffering the most during the Great Depression. FDR was re-elected President in 1936 by the greatest landslide this country had ever seen even though there was still high unemployment and the economy was in the doldrums. The reason for this is that the American people saw in FDR a man who empathized and cared about them. FDR may have grown up a rich man, but he never lost sight of the fact that many in this country were poor and he made it his business to do what he could to ameliorate that suffering. During the war, FDR occasionally visited convalescent hospitals for soldiers. He would have aides wheel him through those hospitals in his wheelchair so that the men could see that he, too, was injured like they were. One of his last acts in office was to sign into law the GI Bill. This legislation gave soldiers and sailors benefits to pursue an education as a reward for serving their country. No prior President had done such a thing.
4. A willingness to engage with the leaders of other countries in a manner that no other President had done before. Winning World War II required the cooperation of other countries. Dealing with Joe Stalin of the USSR was like dealing with the devil. However, there comes a point in time when the interests of a nation require its leader to do exactly that. Dealing with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was much easier and the two men had a great deal in common. The hallmark of this relationship was that it became an extremely close one.
5. An understanding that the American Presidency had become a modern institution. FDR was the first president to travel to places like Cairo, Teheran, and Yalta to meet with foreign leaders and set a strategy for winning World War II. Other presidents may have taken an airplane ride as a thrill. FDR used the airplane extensively to fulfill the obligations of his office. He understood how radio had changed the dynamic of the country and he gave weekly fireside chats on the radio to inform the American people and keep public opinion on his side.
Roosevelt had faults as a leader. However, he clearly deserves to rate as one of top three presidents this country ever had.
The other little interesting tidbit was FDR's snorting of cocaine that day to treat a raging sinus infection that he was dealing with. Maybe more Presidents would write their own speeches if we let them snort lines while doing it...
Even today, cocaine based pharmaceuticals are used by ENT doctors to open up nasal passages for office medical procedures. It is very effective for that purpose.
I have not seen the History Channel's episode, but I did watch a film clip of Roosevelt's declaration of war speech to Congress at the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredricksburg, Texas. It's one thing to read the speech, but it's quite another to hear and see Roosevelt speak the words. It had quite an emotional impact on me.
I agree with previous comments about the U.S. being a different country in 1941. Although scoundrels have always served in government, in general our top leaders of the time had a sense of public service, a sense that they were serving the interests of the nation as opposed to their own or their political party's narrow interests. They grappled with enormously complex and daunting issues in World War II, often quite aware of their own limitations as finite humans. Secretary of War Stimson is a good example of such a capable and pricipled man working in the service of his President. While there were prima donas and vainglorious publicity hounds such as Generals MacArthur and Patton (although each had much real ability as a general), think of their self-effacing but tremendously capable boss, General George Marshall. There are other examples, of course.
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