[The President begins with a grim summary of
the international situation. Move on
to his remedies--and his vision of the American purpose in world affairs.]
Mr. Speaker, members of the 77th Congress :
I address you, the members of this new Congress, at a moment unprecedented in
the history of the union. I use the word "unprecedented" because at no
previous time has American security been as seriously threatened from without as
it is today.
Since the permanent formation of our government under the Constitution in
1789, most of the periods of crisis in our history have related to our domestic
affairs. And, fortunately, only one of these --the four-year war between the
States --ever threatened our national unity. Today, thank God, 130,000,000
Americans in forty-eight States have forgotten points of the compass in our
national unity. It is true that prior to 1914 the United States often has been disturbed by
events in other continents. We have even engaged in two wars with European
nations and in a number of undeclared wars in the West Indies, in the
Mediterranean and in the Pacific, for the maintenance of American rights and for
the Principles of peaceful commerce. But in no case has a serious threat been
raised against our national safety or our continued independence.
What I seek to convey is the historic truth that the United States as a
nation has at all times maintained opposition --clear, definite opposition-- to
any attempt to lock us in behind an ancient Chinese wall while the procession of
civilization went past. Today, thinking of our children and of their children,
we oppose enforced isolation for ourselves or for any other part of the
Americas.
That determination of ours, extending over all these years, was proved, for
example, in the early days during the quarter century of wars following the
French Revolution. While the Napoleonic struggle did threaten interests of the
United States because of the French foothold in the West Indies and in
Louisiana, and while we engaged in the War of 1812 to vindicate our right to
peaceful trade, it is nevertheless clear that neither France nor Great Britain
nor any other nation was aiming at domination of the whole world.
And in like fashion, from 1815 to 1914 --ninety-nine years --no single war in
Europe or in Asia constituted a real threat against our future or against the
future of any other American nation.
Except in the Maximilian interlude in Mexico, no foreign power sought to
establish itself in this hemisphere. And the strength of the British fleet in
the Atlantic has been a friendly strength; it is still a friendly strength. Even
when the World War broke out in 1941 it seemed to contain only small threat of
danger to our own American future. But as time went on, as we remember, the
American people began to visualize what the downfall of democratic nations might
mean to our own democracy.
We need not overemphasize imperfections in the peace of Versailles. We need
not harp on failure of the democracies to deal with problems of world
reconstruction. We should remember that the peace of 1919 was far less unjust
than the kind of pacification which began even before Munich, and which is being
carried on under the new order of tyranny that seeks to spread over every
continent today. The American people have unalterably set their faces against
that tyranny.
I suppose that 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 poisionous propaganda by those who seek to
destroy unity and promote discord in nations that are still at peace.
During sixteen long months this assault has blotted out the whole pattern of
democratic life in an appalling number of independent nations, great and small.
And the assailants are still on the march, threatening other nations, great and
small.
Therefore, as your President, performing my constitutional duty to "give
to the Congress information of the state of the union," I find it unhappily
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 and Asia, Africa and Australia will be dominated by conquerors. And let
us remember that the total of those populations in those four continents, the
total of those populations and their resources greatly exceeds the sum total of
the population and the resources of the whole of the Western Hemisphere --yes,
many times over.
In times like these it is immature-- and, incidentally, untrue-- for anybody
to brag that an unprepared America, single-handed and with one hand tied behind
its back, can hold off the whole world.
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. Such a peace would
bring no security for us or for our neighbors. Those who would give up essential
liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor
safety.
As a nation we may take pride in the fact that we are soft-hearted; but we
cannot afford to be soft-headed. We must always be wary of those who with
sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal preach the ism of appeasement. We must
especially beware of that small group of selfish men who would clip the wings of
the American eagle in order to feather their own nests. I have recently pointed
out how quickly the tempo of modern warfare could bring into our very midst the
physical attack which we must eventually expect if the dictator nation win this
war.
There is much loose talk of our immunity from immediate and direct invasion
from across the seas. Obviously, as long as the British Navy retains its power,
no such danger exists. Even if there were no British Navy, it is not probable
that any enemy would be stupid enough to attack us by landing troops in the
United States from across thousands of miles of ocean, until it had acquired
strategic bases from which to operate.
But we learn much from the lessons of the past years in Europe-- particularly
the lesson of Norway, whose essential seaports were captured by treachery and
surprise built up over a series of years.
The first phase of the invasion of this hemisphere would not be the landing
of regular troops. The necessary strategic points would be occupied by secret
agents and by their dupes-- and great numbers of them are already here and in
Latin America.
As long as the aggressor nations maintain the offensive they, not we, will
choose the time and the place and the method of their attack.
And that is why the future of all the American Republics is today in serious
danger. That is why this annual message to the Congress is unique in our
history. That is why every member of the executive branch of the government and
every member of the Congress face great responsibility-- great accountability.
The need of the moment is that our actions and our policy should be devoted
primarily-- almost exclusively-- to meeting this foreign peril. For all our
domestic problems are now a part of the great emergency. Just as our national
policy in internal affairs has been based upon a decent respect for the rights
and the dignity of all of our fellow men within our gates, so our national
policy in foreign affairs has been based on a decent respect for the rights and
the dignity of all nations, large and small. And the justice of morality must
and will win in the end.
Our national policy is this : Therefore, the immediate need is a swift and driving increase in our armament
production. Leaders of industry and labor have responded to our summons. Goals
of speed have been set. In some cases these goals are being reached ahead of
time. In some cases we are on schedule; in other cases there are slight but not
serious delays. And in some cases-- and, I am sorry to say, very important
cases-- we are all concerned by the slowness of the accomplishment of our plans.
The Army and Navy, however, have made substantial progress during the past
year. Actual experience is improving and speeding up our methods of production
with every passing day. And today's best is not good enough for tomorrow.
I am not satisfied with the progress thus far made. The men in charge of the
program represent the best in training, in ability and in patriotism. They are
not satisfied with the progress thus far made. None of us will be satisfied
until the job is done.
No matter whether the original goal was set too high or too low, our
objective is quicker and better results. To give you two illustrations : We are
behind schedule in turning out finished airplanes. We are working day and night
to solve the innumerable problems and to catch up.
We are ahead of schedule in building warships, but we are working to get even
further ahead of that schedule. To change a whole nation from a basis of
peacetime production of implements of peace to a basis of wartime production of
implements of war is no small task. The greatest difficulty comes at the
beginning of the program, when new tools, new plant facilities, new assembly
lines, new shipways must first be constructed before the actual material begins
to flow steadily and speedily from them.
The Congress of course, must rightly keep itself informed at all times of the
progress of the program. However, there is certain information, as the Congress
itself will readily recognize, which, in the interests of our own security and
those of the nations that we are supporting, must of needs be kept in
confidence. New circumstances are constantly begetting new needs for our safety.
I shall ask this Congress for greatly increased new appropriations and
authorizations to carry on what we have begun.
I also ask this Congress for authority and for funds sufficient to
manufacture additional munitions and war supplies of many kinds, to be turned
over to those nations which are now in actual war with aggressor nations. Our
most useful and immediate role is to act as an arsenal for them as well as for
ourselves. They do not need manpower, but they do need billions of dollars'
worth of the weapons of defense.
The time is near when they will not be able to pay for them all in ready
cash. We cannot, and we will not, tell them that they must surrender merely
because of present inability to pay for the weapons which we know they must
have.
I do not recommend that we make them a loan of dollars with which to pay for
these weapons-- a loan to be repaid in dollars. I recommend that we make it
possible for those nations to continue to obtain war materials in the United
States, fitting their orders into our own program. And nearly all of their
material would, if the time ever came, be useful in our own defense.
Taking counsel of expert military and naval authorities, considering what is
best for our own security, we are free to decide how much should be kept here
and how much should be sent abroad to our friends who, by their determined and
heroic resistance, are giving us time in which to make ready our own defense.
For what we send abroad we shall be repaid, repaid within a reasonable time
following the close of hostilities, repaid in similar materials, or at our
option in other goods of many kinds which they can produce and which we need.
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. That
is our purpose and our pledge."
In fulfillment of this purpose we will not be intimidated by the threats of
dictators that they will regard as a breach of international law or as an act of
war our aid to the democracies which dare to resist their aggression. Such aid
is not an act of war, even if a dictator should unilaterally proclaim it so to
be.
And when the dictators --if the dictators-- are ready to make war upon us,
they will not wait for an act of war on our part.
They did not wait for Norway or Belgium or the Netherlands to commit an act
of war. Their only interest is in a new one-way international law which lacks
mutuality in its observance and therefore becomes an instrument of oppression.
The happiness of future generations of Americans may well depend on how
effective and how immediate we can make our aid felt. No one can tell the exact
character of the emergency situations that we may be called upon to meet. The
nation's hands must not be tied when the nation's life is in danger.
Yes, and we must prepare, all of us prepare, to make the sacrifices that the
emergency --almost as serious as war itself-- demands. Whatever stands in the
way of speed and efficiency in defense, in defense preparations at any time,
must give way to the national need.
A free nation has the right to expect full cooperation from all groups. A
free nation has the right to look to the leaders of business, of labor and of
agriculture to take the lead in stimulating effort, not among other groups but
within their own groups.
The best way of dealing with the few slackers or trouble-makers in our midst
is, first, to shame them by patriotic example, and if that fails, to use the
sovereignty of government to save government.
As men do not live by bread alone, they do not fight by armaments alone.
Those who man our defenses and those behind them who build our defenses must
have the stamina and the courage which come from unashakeable belief in the
manner of life which they are defending. The mighty action that we are calling
for cannot be based on a disregard of all the things worth fighting for.
The nation takes great satisfaction and much strength from the things which
have been done to make its people conscious of their individual stake in the
preservation of democratic life in America. Those things have toughened the
fiber of our people, have renewed their faith and strengthened their devotion to
the institutions we make ready to protect. Certainly this is no time for any of
us to stop thinking about the social and economic problems which are the root
cause of the social revolution which is today a supreme factor in the world. 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 : These are the simple, the basic things that must never be lost sight of
in the turmoil and unbelievable complexity of our modern world. The inner
and abiding straight of our economic and political systems is dependent upon
the degree to which they fulfill these expectations. Many subjects connected
with our social economy call for immediate improvement. As examples : I have called for personal sacrifice, and I am assured of the willingness
of almost all Americans to respond to that call. A part of the sacrifice
means the payment of more money in taxes. In my budget message I will
recommend that a greater portion of this great defense program be paid for
from taxation than we are paying for today. No person should try, or be
allowed to get rich out of the program, and the principle of tax payments in
accordance with ability to pay should be constantly before our eyes to guide
our legislation.
If the congress maintains these principles the voters, putting patriotism
ahead pocketbooks, will give you their applause.
In the future days which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a
world founded upon four essential human freedoms.
The first is freedom of speech and expression --everywhere in the world.
The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way--
everywhere in the world.
The third is freedom from want, which, translated into world terms, means
economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy
peacetime life for its inhabitants --everywhere in the world.
The fourth is freedom from fear, which, translated into world terms,
means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a
thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of
physical aggression against any neighbor --anywhere in the wold.
That is no vision of a distant millennium. 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 the 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. Since the beginning of our American history
we have been engaged in change, in a perpetual, peaceful revolution, a
revolution which goes on steadily, quietly, adjusting itself to changing
conditions without the concentration camp or the quicklime in the ditch. The
world order which we seek is the cooperation of free countries, working
together in a friendly, civilized society.
This nation has placed its destiny in the hands, heads and hearts of its
millions of free men and women, and its faith in freedom under the guidance
of God. Freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere. Our support
goes to those who struggle to gain those rights and keep them. Our strength
is our unity of purpose.
To that high concept there can be no end save victory.
First, by an impressive expression of the public will and without regard to
partisanship, we are committed to all-inclusive national defense.
Second, by an impressive expression of the public will and without regard to
partisanship, we are committed to full support of all those resolute people
everywhere who are resisting aggression and are thereby keeping war away from
our hemisphere. By this support we express our determination that the democratic
cause shall prevail, and we strengthen the defense and the security of our own
nation.
Third, by an impressive expression of the public will and without regard to
partisanship, we are committed to the proposition that principle of morality and
considerations for our own security will never permit us to acquiesce in a peace
dictated by aggressors and sponsored by appeasers. We know that enduring peace
cannot be bought at the cost of other people's freedom.
In the recent national election there was no substantial difference between the
two great parties in respect to that national policy. No issue was fought out on
the line before the American electorate. And today it is abundantly evident that
American citizens everywhere are demanding and supporting speedy and complete
action in recognition of obvious danger.