Fdr Fireside Chat
December 29, 1940 –
Franklin Delano Roosevelt started his fireside chat with these words:
“This is not a fireside chat on war. It is a talk on national security, because the nub of the whole purpose of your President is to keep you now, and your children later, and your grandchildren much later, out of a last-ditch war for the preservation of American independence and all of the things that American independence means to you and to me and to ours.”
Many had their thoughts on what the president should talk about that night, one even stating “Please Mr. President, don’t frighten us by telling us the facts.” Luckily, FDR counter-reacted and said, “frankly and definitely there is danger ahead – danger against which we must prepare. But we well know that we cannot escape danger (it), or the fear of danger, by crawling into bed and pulling the covers over our heads.” As one of America’s great presidents, he wanted to keep his American people informed on pressing matters, even those that were threats to national security. This fireside chat was just that. FDR spoke from the White House, not only as a president but as a fellow American citizen, about the Nazi masters in Germany and how they plan to “dominate all life and thought in their own country, but also to enslave the whole of Europe, and then use the resources of Europe to dominate the rest of the world.” FDR made it clear in the video I watched from Lesson 4 that “if Great Britain goes down, the Axis powers will control the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australasia, and the high seas -- and they will be in a position to bring enormous military and naval resources against this hemisphere. It is no exaggeration to say that all of us, in all the Americas, would be living at the point of a gun.” Emphasis was put on “we must be the great arsenal of democracy. This is an emergency as serious as war itself.” He made it clear that America was ready for whatever had to be done if the Nazi masters were
Franklin Delano Roosevelt started his fireside chat with these words:
“This is not a fireside chat on war. It is a talk on national security, because the nub of the whole purpose of your President is to keep you now, and your children later, and your grandchildren much later, out of a last-ditch war for the preservation of American independence and all of the things that American independence means to you and to me and to ours.”
Many had their thoughts on what the president should talk about that night, one even stating “Please Mr. President, don’t frighten us by telling us the facts.” Luckily, FDR counter-reacted and said, “frankly and definitely there is danger ahead – danger against which we must prepare. But we well know that we cannot escape danger (it), or the fear of danger, by crawling into bed and pulling the covers over our heads.” As one of America’s great presidents, he wanted to keep his American people informed on pressing matters, even those that were threats to national security. This fireside chat was just that. FDR spoke from the White House, not only as a president but as a fellow American citizen, about the Nazi masters in Germany and how they plan to “dominate all life and thought in their own country, but also to enslave the whole of Europe, and then use the resources of Europe to dominate the rest of the world.” FDR made it clear in the video I watched from Lesson 4 that “if Great Britain goes down, the Axis powers will control the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australasia, and the high seas -- and they will be in a position to bring enormous military and naval resources against this hemisphere. It is no exaggeration to say that all of us, in all the Americas, would be living at the point of a gun.” Emphasis was put on “we must be the great arsenal of democracy. This is an emergency as serious as war itself.” He made it clear that America was ready for whatever had to be done if the Nazi masters were