A documentary of Franklin Delano's presidency with continuity by diverse voices uniting extracts from actual recordings of Roosevelt speeches 1933 - 1945.~First inaugural address, Washington, March 4th, 1933: "I am certain that my fellow Americans expect that on my induction into the Presidency I will address them with a candour and a decision which the present situation of our Nation impels. This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself - nameless unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. Our greatest primary task is to put people to work. This is no unsolvable problem if we face it wisely and courageously. It can be accomplished in part by direct recruiting by the government itself, treating the task as we would treat the emergency of a war, but at the same time, through this employment, accomplishing greatly needed projects to stimulate and reorganize the use of our natural resources. Hand in hand with this we must frankly recognize the overbalance of population in our industrial centers and, by engaging on a national scale in a redistribution, endeavor to provide a better use of the land for those best fitted for the land.~I am prepared under my constitutional duty to recommend the measures that a stricken nation in the midst of a stricken world may require. These measures, or such other measures as the Congress may build out of its experience and wisdom. I shall seek, within my constitutional authority, to bring to speedy adoption. But in the event that the Congress shall fail to take one of these two courses, and in the event that the national emergency is still critical, I shall not evade the clear course of duty that will then confront me. I shall ask the Congress for the one remaining instrument to meet the crisis - broad executive power to wage a war against the emergency, as great as the power that would be given to me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe. For the trust reposed in me I will return the courage and the devotion that befit the time. I can do no less. We face the arduous days that lie before us in the warm courage of national unity; with the clear consciousness of seeking old and precious moral values; with the clean satisfaction that comes from the stern performance of duty by old and young alike. We do not distrust the future of essential democracy. The people of the United States have not failed. In their need they have registered a mandate that they want direct, vigorous action. They have asked for discipline and direction under leadership. They have made me the present instrument of their wishes. In the spirit of the gift I take it. In this dedication of a nation we humbly ask the blessings of God. May He guide me in the days to come".~Second inaugural address, Washington, January 20th 1937: "When four years ago we met to inaugurate a President... But our present gains were won under the pressure of more than ordinary circumstance. Let us ask again: Have we reached the goal of our vision. I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill clad, ill-nourished. The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little. We will carry on".~Speech recommending a quarantine of aggressor nations, Chicago, Illinois, October 5th 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 present reign of terror and international lawlessness began a few years ago against the spread of the disease. War is a contagion. Therefore, America actively engages in the search for peace".~Annual message to Congress - A warning to dictator nations, Washington, January 4th, 1939: "As this Seventy-sixth Congress opens there is need for further warning. There comes a time in the affairs of men when they must prepare to defend, not their homes alone, but the tenets of faith and humanity to save all. In meeting the troubles of the world we must meet them as one people. Once I prophesied that this generation of Americans had a rendez-vous with destiny".~Fireside chat on the European war, Washington, September 3th, 1939: "Tonight my single duty is to speak to the whole of America. I myself cannot and do not prophesy the course of events abroad. I do not dare to do so we must act to preserve the safety of our children in future years. This nation will remain a neutral nation ... even a neutral cannot be asked to close his mind or his conscience. As long as it remains within my power to prevent, there will be no black-out of peace in the United States".~Radio address to the Democratic National Convention accepting the third term nomination, Chicago, July 19th, 1940: "It is very late... I find myself ... in a conflict between deep personal desire for retirement on the one hand, and that quiet, invisible thing called conscience on the other. Lying awake I have asked myself whether I have the right ... I will, with God's help, continue to serve with the best of my ability and with the fulness of my strength".~Fireside chat on national security, Washington, December 29, 1940: "We must be the great arsenal of democracy ... we should show were we at war ... As President of the United States I call upon our people with absolute confidence that our common cause will greatly succeed".~Four Freedoms and Lend-Lease speech, Wasington, January 6, 1941: "I address you at a moment unprecedented in the history of the Union... New circumstances are constantly begetting new needs for our safety... For what we send abroad we shall be repaid... Whe shall send you in ever-increasing numbers, ships, planes, tanks and guns. This is our purpose and our pledge. In the future days ... To that high concept there can be no end save victory".~Fireside chat outlining American policy in the world crisis, Washington, May 27th, 1941: Today the whole world is divided between human slavery and human freedom - between pagan brutality and the Christian ideal... As the president of a united and determined people ... we assert ... doctrine of freedom of the seas ... solidarity of the twenty-one American Republics and the Dominion of Canada ... material support to other democracies ... we ... will decide when and where our American interests are attacked ... we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honour".~Freedom of the Seas speech, Washington, September 11th, 1941: "My obligation as President is historic it is clear; it is inescapable... The American people have faced other grave crises in their history - with American courage and American resolution. They will do no less today".~War message to Congress, Washington, December, 8th 1941: "Yesterday, December 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberqtely attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan ... I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense ... I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7th, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire".~Fireside chat on the progress of the war, Washington, February 23th, 1942: "Washington's Birthday is a most appropriate occasion for us to talk with each other about things as they are today and things as we know they shall be in the future... This war is a new kind of war... Actually we are taking a heavy toll of the enemy every day that goes by... From Berlin, Rome and Tokyo we have been described as a nation of weaklings - "playboys" who would hire British soldiers, or Russian soldiers, or Chinese soldiers to do our fighting for us... Let them tell that to the Marines".~Speech to International Student Assembly, September 3th, 1942: "What I say here in Washington is being heard by several million American soldiers and sailors and marines... The better world for which we fight and for which some of you will give your lives cannot be brought about over night but only by years of efforts and perseverance and unfaltering faith".~Christmas Eve Speech - Report on Teheran Conference from Hyde Park, New York, December 24th, 1943: "Within the past year ... history has been made ... Mr. Churchill and I have happily met many times before, and we know and understand each other very well ... we are absolutely agreed with one another on all the major objectives - and on the military means of obtaining them... I got along fine with Marshal Stalin... As long as these four nations [Britain, the United States, Russia and China] ... stick together in determination to keep the peace there will be no possibility of an aggressor nation arising to start another world war. Some of our men are now spending their third Christmas far from home".~Annual message to Congress - Economic Bill of Rights, Washington, January 11th, 1944: "This republic had its beginning and grew to its present strength, under the protection of certain inalienable political rights ... they were our rights to life and liberty. We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual feedom cannot exist without economic security and independence".~Radio Address on D-Day, from Washington, June 6th, 1944: "Last night, when I spoke to you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our Allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. And so in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer: ... Lead them straight and true ... they will need Thy blessings. ...Thy will be done, Almighty God. Amen".~Speech to Foreign Policy Association, New York City, October 21th, 1944:~Fourth Inaugural Address, Washington, January 20th, 1945: "You will understand and, I believe, agree with my wish ... We have learned that we cannot live alone, at peace; that our own well-being ... we pray now ... for vision to see our way clearly ... to the achievement of His will to peace on earth".~Address to Congress on the Crimean Conference, Washington, March 1, 1945: "I hope that you will pardon me for ... sittin down ... but I know you will realize it makes it a lot easier for me not having to carry about ten pounds of steel around on the bottom of my legs. It is good to be home... The Crimean Conference was a successful effort by the three leading nations to find a common ground for peace ... that better world in which our children and grandchildren ... must live".~Extract from Harry S. Truman's address to Congress, April 16, 1945: "In His infinite wisdom Almighty God has seen fit to take from us a great man who loved and was beloved by all humanity ... with great humility I call upon all Americans to help me keep our nation united in defense of those ideals which have been so eloquently proclaimed by Franklin Roosevelt". <1h 59mn 37s>
