The complete speech delivered by FDR on Decemeber 8, 1941 to a joint session of Congress, asking for a declaration of war against Japan after the Pearl Harbor attack.
"No matter how long it might take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory." Gets my heart beating faster every time.
It’s amazing how the economy was depressed for so long and then suddenly something happens that motivates everybody to work together, and it made the US the economic leader of the 20th century
This speech was straight forward and to the point. The secretary of State wanted an hour long speech laying out the history of the situation. I think the President was correct in his choice, not the secretary.
This is one astounding piece of oratory and history. Thank you for posting it in this format. Hard to imagine a US President these days with such command and charisma, but we are lucky that FDR was that man, then.
The Typed rough drafts with their heavy markups are very telling. It is supposed that the speechwriters had less than a day to put this address together.
"But always, will our whole nation, remember the character of the onslaught against us." Thank you for doing your part to ensure that this is true. May it ever be so.
Back in 2004 I had business at the U.S. Capitol. One of the members of the Senate invited me to enter the House chamber with her. I got to sit in the Speaker's chair but the moment that hit me was when I was motioned to walk up to and stand at that podium. For several seconds I panned the entire room and thought about how many presidents have stood in this very spot to address Congress and the nation. I even rested my hands on the side of the podium. The senator could see my reaction and said "it creates a powerful moment, doesn't it?" I nodded in agreement and thanked her for the opportunity I'll never forget.
This speech is now 77 years of Mondays old (I make this comment on Monday December 10th, 2018).-----Any children/teens in school that don't know this speech, it's either because they don't care/weren't listening or the teacher (for American History) didn't teach (if the teacher failed, such person should be fired or replaced).
World War 2 may have been an imperialist war that happened decades ago, but it defined modern history and technology, do you think that without the jet and the rocket, we would be as advanced as we are?
@@headshotgod6979 US was develing jets and rockets before WW2. JPL was founded in the 1930s on the back of US aerospace industry. There is a nonsense theory that the US used Nazi engineers to build rockets. It is nothing more than fantasy. The US moved Nazi engineers out of Europe so that they could not be causing problems or to keep them away from the Russians.
It's a sad commentary to know that the Congressmen and Senators of December 8, 1941 have been replaced by the likes of what sits in those seats of June 3, 2020!!
It's absolutely amazing how beloved he was to the American people. If you love FDR and the history behind his presidency you need to watch the documentary called The Roosevelts. There is so much more to him and how important he was than we realize. My grandmother was born in 1934 and remembers today that every night he would broadcast to the nation and talk to its people, not as its president but as a fellow citizen. She told me that when she heard he died in 45 that it was like losing a member of your family. Children had known no other president and he was so loved for all the good he did for the country. Many people say it felt like they had lost their father.
FDR wrote this speech by himself, he couldn't reach his advisers in time to assist with the speech. At the last minute, he changed "....Will live in world history" to "........ Will live in infamy" Good choice!
+CrueMagnon Roosevelt=biggest gangster all time he created self WW2 for his wall street profits + reelection. Investigate the wealth he made with his provoked war.
The problem is, FDR KNEW we were about to be attacked and did NOTHING. Subs and ships saw them on the way and sent several messages to Washington. He wanted the American people to be so angry they would finally support American involvement in the war. FDR was a Jew hater who sent shiploads of Jews back to die in the death camps. Because he gave us his "New Deal," he is loved by the Left. Never mind that all of his programs are unconstitutional. The Supreme Court ruled many times against his programs until he threatened to destroy the Court if they did not get out of his way. FDR started us down the road to total Socialism. Read John Grit's novel "Feathers on the Wings of Love and Hate." It gives us an idea of just how bad things may be a few decades down the line in history. Thanks to the fact we are heading for Socialism.
That is great. I hope they are told the truth about FDR! For one thing, he refused to save any Jews! BTW, my late father and uncles fought in that war.
I find it amazing that 33 minutes after this speech, Congress voted 82-0 and 388-1. You'd never get Congress to vote in such a bipartisan fashion today
You are absolutely right, I commented this on several comments saying "We went from this to Trump/Biden": Regardless of who is in power, we went from this to being so divided that we scrutinize and debate every act of our nation's government, that for almost no single goal is our country ever unified. No president is perfect. No government is perfect. But so long as the government executes the will of the majority of the people, the people should support that government. It's not who is president that is to blame, it is the way we the people disrespect the President in every administration. If Pearl Harbor had happened yesterday and FDR himself had given this speech today, by the end of the night every form of media would have shared a radically charged opinion on it, and half the country would be 100% against him. We would not have the same level of young men (and women) rushing to join the war effort. We would not have the same level of workers in the homeland rushing to make bullets, food, and supplies. We would half the country crying out that rationing is unfair and unnecessary, that we should not be going to war, that America should just turn its back to the attack by Japan on our young soldiers and innocent civilians in Hawaii. FDR would be viewed as a villain to half of Americans even before the speech, all because their candidate fairly lost the election. He would have dozens of foul labels attached to his name like bigot, racist, communist, fascist, Nazi, idiot, etc. The enemy of the United States is not its own President, it is the radicalization of its people, by whom the President is elected.
@@thomasvlaskampiii6850 I tend to agree, both republicans and democrats do not shy away from conflict, if america was attacked on its own soil i nearly guarantee a similar consensus would happen today.
@@woke6432 I respectfully disagree. Democrats as a whole are anti-violence today. If Pearl Harbor happened today, they would send diplomats to Japan before anything else
4:53 this part of the speech is rarely mentioned, but my god is that a powerful series of statements. FDR is just slowly and methodically laying out attack, after attack, after attack... and quietly whipping the audience into a seething rage by pointing it's so much worse than just Hawaii.
Rest in peace to each and every one of them, American or not. For they will all be remembered. (this isn’t hate I’m just stating my message to the day of infamy.)
"you can bet, those we honor today and those who died that day, never took a knee nor failed to stand when our national anthem was being played".🇺🇲 Adm. Harry Harris.
@@JamesRichards-mj9kw it's technically disputed if he said this or not. It was by word of mouth from him to a aid who was sworn to secrecy them supposedly wrote in a book later so disputed lol
He died 74 years ago today. A century plus fourteen years. Yet he seems so vibrant and alive now. Perhaps because we are so lacking in good leadership. He was a born leader. He inspired all. We were not in tears when we heard this speech which is one of the greatest speeches ever made. We knew we would win and victory would be ours. Thank you FDR! You were one of the greatest Presidents of the 20th Century.
Your second sentence was waaay off. The rest of your post was even more waaaay off! FDR was as much of a racist Jew hater as Hitler was. Read The Jews Should Keep Quiet. By Rafael Medoff. FDR loved Stalin. Called him Blood Brother. FDR disliked Churchill. Churchill told the truth when he said FDR's New Deal was driving the entire world into a deeper economic disaster. Later economists would agree. Read FDR's Folly. By Jim Powell. FDR's tax slavery, his New Deal, is why the US suffered though FDR's Great Depression. Americans starved to death, because of FDR. He ordered crops plowed under and millions of pigs killed. FDR punished farmers who refused to plow crops under. One case went all the way to the Supreme Court. FDR was one of the worst presidents! He had the blood of many, many tens of thousands of Jews on his hands. Jews FDR could have saved! Read the books. The Jews Should Keep Quiet. By Rafael Medoff. Also, FDR's Folly. How FDR and His New Deal Prolonged the Great Depression. By Jim Powell. FDR starved Americans to death! FDR refused to save the Jews! Also, FDR knew Japan was going to attack Pearl Harbor days before! He warned no one! Read the books. FDR was in love with Stalin and Mussolini. Changed his mind about Mussolini later. But never stopped loving his blood brother, Stalin. Stalin starved more of his own people than Hitler. He ordered crops plowed under. FDR ordered crops plowed under. He punished farmers who refused to plow their crops under, as millions were starving!
@@alwaysfreedom9354 Yes my first sentence was kinda off. I meant to say seven decades plus 4 years. As for the rest I stand by it. He was a born leader. He was a good President. He was not perfect. Nobody is. We are so lacking in leadership now. FDR, TR, Lincoln Ike, JFK, Washington,. Jefferson and a few others were men that knew how to lead. None were perfect. But they knew how to lead. You are entitled to your opinion about FDR and I am entitled to mine.
@@voicegirl555 If you read the books by historians, you would learn just how wrong you are about FDR. FDR was another Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini, with less power to do as much harm. If he had more power, he would have done more harm. FDR was at war with our Bill of Rights, and for that reason, he was at war with the Supreme Court. That is why he tried to destroy the SCOTUS. Americans starved because of FDR. Americans died at Pearl Harbor because of FDR. He set Pearl Harbor up for a fat target. Then he did many things to piss off Japan. The Japanese radio code had been broken. FDR knew those ships were heading for Pearl Harbor, FDR warned no one! Read the books, by historians! Young Americans must know the truth! Freedom is never free! We have another Democrat nut in power now! Like with FDR, we have a food shortage!
@@markharrison2544 There's no explaining this to someone with no concept of true courage. Think about it. If you think the Japanese pilots were heroes you are no better than them.
@@markharrison2544 At Taranto 61 were killed, 602 wounded and a total of ten planes and ships destroyed. Contrast that with Pearl Harbor: 4 battleships sunk 4 battleships damaged 1 ex-battleship sunk 1 harbor tug sunk 3 cruisers damaged 3 destroyers damaged 3 other ships damaged 188 aircraft destroyed 159 aircraft damaged 2,335 killed 1,143 wounded You must be someone who believes the Axis Powers, Germany, Japan and Italy, were right in trying to conquer Europe. If that is the case you are on the wrong side of what is right.
@@markharrison2544 De Valera, taoseach of Ireland, stated neutrality was Ireland's official position, though many Irishmen fought for Britain. Gandhi advocated peaceful resistance to Hitler.
This speech gives me chills. I wish we were this united. I'd like to get back to this kind of unity. Everyone wants to tear us down, everyone wants to see our downfall. Dammit, we can do so much good for ourselves and in the world if we can get it together.
I'm from Italy. Not everyone wants to tear you down. I'm 10000% pro America. Liberty was lost in continental Europe in 1941, America restored it. Wherever US armies arrived, liberty was restored; wherever US armies did not arrive, liberty was not restored. If there is still liberty in the world, it is because America has been defending it for almost 80 years. I owe America my freedom. All the damn morons trashing America around the clock should either emigrate to Russia, China and North Korea or shut the fuck up.
@@wskylar21 many presidents could of won four times. They chose to follow the tradition of George Washington and stick with two terms. As for the depression, it would of only been a recession if it wasn’t for the new deal. For example the recession of 1920 was dealt with the exact opposite of Keynesian measures. It ended very quickly. The USA under FDR was caught with their pants down after Pearl Harbor. Our military was weak and underfunded.
@@wskylar21 FDR's New Deal caused his Great Depression. Read FDR's Folly. How Roosevelt And His New Deal Prolonged the Great Depression. By Jim Powell. You should also read The Jews Should Keep Quiet, by Rafael Medoff. Back then, blacks voted for the party that freed the slaves. FDR's KKK kept them from voting. FDR refused to see an Olympic Gold Medalist. Why? He was black. Hitler saw the man. FDR refused. FDR punished farmers who refused to plow crops under, as Americans were starving. FDR called Stalin his blood brother. He loved Mussolini. FDR disliked Churchill. Churchill told the truth, when he said FDR's New Deal was driving the entire world into a deeper economic disaster. Later historians would agree. Sorry it took 4 years. Long wait. But truth is worth the wait.
The UK was capable of holding Nazi Germany to a stand still in the war. They just could not make penetrations into mainland Europe just as the Germans were unable to do so in the Island of Britain. Both would have fought to a draw with no winner due to geography and other factors like industry and military capabilities.
Fun fact: When they voted to go to war only 1 voted against it and if I recall correctly it ultimately costed her seat as around 97% of Americans supported the war declaration
Rep. Rankin from Montana. She also voted to keep us out of WWI. People in Montana hated her. I for one don’t like the State naming anything in her honor.
This mans speach teaches everybody how you can be ungodly pissed without blaming anyone specifically in government. Just how angry was he to: be able to walk somewhat with polio, in agony, and yet still make it abbondantly clear japan is going to be wiped off the map.
@@uyd but Eisenhower wasn't exactly perfect either. He also threw out the constitution. If you don't uphold to the constitution then it's just a piece of very old paper.
And to think, Senator Cordell Hull thought it was the worst speech in history when it was shared to him. What Roosevelt (and also people like President Abraham Lincoln) showed is that a speech doesn't need to be hours long to be historic.
To those of you that who don’t like FDR would the world be better off if the Germans and the Japanese were shaking hands at the Mississippi river in 1946 FDR is uniformly considered to be one of our greatest presidents and should be recognized as such
Yes! Very young men fed their human flesh into Nazi war machines, until they choked! In battle after battle! Freedom is never free! That is why we have that Second Amendment!
A lot of other recordings of this speech cut out the applause. This one doesn't appear to. At 6:50, he says, "The American people in their righteous might, will win through to absolute victory." When an American leader invokes God as sponsor of a national endeavor, the enemy needs to be aware that the US is very serious.
Roosevelt decided to go before Congress the next day to report on the attack and ask for a declaration of war. In early evening, he called in his secretary, Grace Tully. "Sit down, Grace," he said. "I'm going before Congress tomorrow, and I'd like to dictate my message. It will be short." 2 Short it was. But it was to become one of the most famous speeches of the twentieth century, giving birth to one of the most famous phrases of the century. "Yesterday, December seventh, 1941, a date which will live in world history," he began as Tully took down the words, "the United States was simultaneously and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan." 3 Biographer Nathan Miller recalls: "He inhaled deeply on his cigarette, blew out the smoke, and began dictating in the same calm tone he used to deal with his mail. He enunciated the words incisively and slowly, carefully specifying each punctuation mark and new paragraph. Running little more than five hundred words, the message was dictated without hesitation or second thoughts.
But FDR was always lying to the people. He knew Japanese warships were heading for Pearl Harbor and warned no one. Americans starved to death because of FDR. Read history books. My World War Two vet and Holocaust survivor teachers are all gone.
@@EmeraldForester777 No. My World War Two vet teachers. One was a Bataan Death March survivor. One grew up under Nazism. She was the first to tell me the Nazis but Jewish flesh in cans and fed it to their soldiers. Churchill said he was surprised of how much FDR wanted to get the US in a war! ANY war! Long before Pearl Harbor. Long before FDR was told of the deathcamps, and FDR screamed he was sick of the crying of the Jews babies. One news reporter of the time said FDR was the "humanitarian" who snubbed a massacre. Contemporary news reports are on the internet for you to read. But you will never read them. You can also read a news reporter about children eating out of garbage cans, as FDR was forcing farmers to plow crops under and kill millions of pigs. FDR was not just a racist, he, like Hitler, was a eugenicist. No interracial marriage was allowed under FDR. Hitler met a black American gold medalist. FDR snubbed him. When FDR was young, he said there were too many Jews in law school. Later, FDR said he understood why some hate Jews. All in history books.
Nineteen years after this speech my mother had a baby girl -- me. Maybe this is why I'm a history buff. I also have a friend born on December 7th. We won't forget that.
@@Ty-dp7iv My condolences on your loss. Did you have lots of memories with her? It would be a good idea to record these memories in a journal so you can "share" her with those who come after you.
@@karenrich9092 oh I was 3 when she died. She used to tell her kids that they were going to hell every night so we dont remember her too fondly but her husband, my great grandfather was a war hero and one of the best men I've ever met. Strange how opposites attract.
@@karenrich9092 my great grandfather was one of the platoons that stumbled upon the death camps when they had finally pushed the nazis back into Berlin. Seeing dead naked bodies stacked 40 ft tall.
One of the greatest presidential speeches of all time, Pearl Harbor was the worst terrorist attack in history until 60 years later when the 9/11 attacks took place. RIP FDR, a first class president
@@bighands69yea it wasn't meant to cuse terror it was a strategic strike against the us fleet so Japan can seize resources Japan needed after the us embargo and after hopefully get favorable peace.
Maybe a little OT I know....but if someone could find an aircheck from another network of this speech, and sync it up with this one, we would have a true stereo recording of the 'Day of Infamy' speech.
If I was a young American hearing this I think I'd go out and get the most expensive hooker I could find. Then I would get blind, roaring drunk. Then after a day of recovering from that, I'd be heading into town to the recruiting office and all my plans and dreams for my life were going to be put on hold.
"No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.....With confidence in our armed forces-with the unbounding determination of our people-we will gain the inevitable triumph- so help us God." I wish we had leaders today who had the guts to give a speech like this today.
It is a shame young Americans do not know real history. It is actually dangerous. Both Churchill and FDR knew Japan was going to attack, days before. America was also lied to in WW1. That time, it was about a passenger ship, sunk by a German U-boat. FDR was as much of a Jew-hating racist as Hitler.
@@Sceptonic The ONLY difference is, FDR did not have the power Hitler and FDR's "Uncle Joe," Stalin did! But FDR tried! He did have the power to starve Americans to death, by punishing farmers who refused to plow crops under and kill millions of pigs, as Americans were starving. FDR never used legal openings for Jews to immigrate to the US. He sent a ship packed full of little Jewish children away, when they came to the US, begging for help. Some Holocaust historians say FDR could easily have saved 120,000, some say a million. That is why FDR was always at war with the Supreme Court and our Bill of Rights! He only wanted power. FDR also wanted the US in a war, to save the economy. Churchill said he was sickened by how much FDR wanted the US in a war, ANY war. Setting Pearl Hsbor up for a fat target was FDR's answer. FDR called Stalin his blood brother, and "Uncle Joe!" FDR hated Churchill. Loved Mussolini. Read the books. FDR put known Clansmen on the Supreme Court. When FDR was in power, one Democratic national convention was known as the "Klanbake!" Most there were clansmen. That is why FDR got by with using our Bill of rights for toilet paper. Many of my teachers were living, then. My father and uncles fought in WW11. You would have been laughed out of high school class, in the 60s and 70s.
+aronnov Admiral Yammamoto did not want to organize an attack on the US. He spoke against it. One of the few if not the only one of Japanese commanders who was against the attack. He had studied in the US for years and knew well of the character of the people and the much more critical untapped industrial power. He stated that "If I should attack the US I can run wild for six months, after that I am not certain" or something close to that. I've heard many variations of that quote. A statement which would turn out to be extreemely prophetic during the war. six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor the bulk of the Japanese carrier force was demolished at the battle of Midway. Admiral Yammamoto's plan for the attack on Pearl harbor called for a first wave to nock out the airfields to limit fighter resistance and further attacks on facilities such as the fuel storage tanks, drydocks, and submarine pens. All of those facilites were considered "soft targets" by the people in charge and yet would later prove to be critical for the war effort. Had the fuel storage been hit and reduced by even 40% that would have severely reduced the capacities of the fleet for a while at least. More importantly would have tied up resources for repairing facilities for longer. Had the repair facilities been destroyed or heavily damaged salvage opperations would have been hindered. ANd likely ships such as the yorktown which suffered battle damage wouldn't be able to get back into the fight as easily. Had the submarine pens been hit it could have hampered US submarine efforts against commercial shipping. Although, defective US torpedos were probably more of a problem then submarine bases during the early stages of the war. But none of those happened. drydocks were damaged but it was relatively light damage and they were still functional. In the end the entire situation was disasterous for both sides but ultimatly Japan turned out worse for it all. America was on fire for revenge. Nothing short of the complete destruction of the Japanese military would cool the flames.
prophetic0311 Indeed. The carriers played an important role in the defense at both coral Sea and ultimately Midway. it would take a while for the US war machine to get into full gear. But without those early victories the war would have been a much longer uphill drag. However, if a third strike had been launched to destroy the drydocks, submarine pens, and even the fleet fuel reserve, the carriers would have lost crucial support tools in order to opperate. Ships don't sail without fuel unless on canvas.
sadly its like this with alot of history content. i avoid looking at the comments these days with anything relating to ww2 or politics. Always bots and trolls these days
People in the comments saying FDR failed and what not are hilarious. He declared war because the U.S was attacked by Japan, what do you want him to do, not fight the enemy that just bombed your harbor?
Japanese midget submarines were discovered at the mouth of PH one hour before the attack, too late to mobilize perssonel into an effective defensive stance. The aircraft carriers had been dispatched to maneuvers one week prior.
A tragic and proud moment as the USA is sucked into the human lawnmower of WWII. The death toll and human suffering unfathomable. My family knew a fellow who was running with his brother at Pearl Harbor when they were strafed by a Japanese zero. His brother died and he was seriously injured. Another lady we knew, whose husband was an officer at Pearl said everyone they knew had partied until they dropped the night before on Saturday, Dec 6 and everyone was completely hungover as they tried to mount a defense on the fateful morning. RIP to those of the greatest generation that have past on.
Eighty two years ago tomorrow, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivered to the Congress a petition that the Congress issue a formal declaration of war against the Empire of Japan. Our nation was at that time under direct attack by Japanese forces. Today, we recall the spirit of that day, that though America is under no such overt threat of attack or destruction, we seek to prevent the same with the following declaration -- HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION Declaring that a state of war exists between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Government and the people of the United States and making provisions to prosecute the same. Whereas the Nation of Israel is declared herein as a principal Ally of the Government and the People of the United States of America; Whereas the Nation of Ukraine is declared herein as a principal Ally of the Government and People of the United States of America; Whereas the Peoples of Iran and of Palestine are herein named Friends of the United States of America, and of its People, and Whereas the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has routinely committed acts of oppression against its people and suppressed their liberties, Has passed laws to deny the People of Iran their Rights and Liberties, which are the rights of all Human beings, and has established and formed a Morality Police to enforce denial of their Rights and Liberties, Has employed the forces of the military and police to suppress and to break apart, with lethal force and intent, Assemblies of the People of Iran in protest of unjust Laws, Has fabricated false charges against its people to unjustly imprison them, to further deny to the People of Iran the right of Freedom of Speech, Has jailed and tortured the People of Iran without due process of justice and without cause, Has denied to the People of Iran, so imprisoned, all aid and comfort due to the accused, Has denied them the Right to Counsel, and Whereas the Islamic Republic of Iran has given aid to the terrorist organizations herein named HAMAS and Hezbollah, which organizations are currently waging a war of destruction against the nation of Israel, the aim of which is to destroy completely the nation and population of Israel; And which organizations, in support of these aims, routinely commit acts of grievous abuse against the citizens and the People of Palestine in Gaza and the West Bank of the River Jordan, by preventing their departure from Gaza and the West Bank to protect and preserve the lives and properties of themselves and their fellow citizens, by routinely committing acts of mass murder against civilians and noncombatants, and by using civilians and noncombatants in time of war as Human Shields, to be killed by the forces of Israel, which aim is to unite the Peoples of the world against the Nation of Israel, to call out for and to seek its Punishment; and Whereas the Islamic Republic of Iran has provided military logistical support to the Russian Federation, which currently is waging a war of conquest against its neighbor Ukraine, and whereas the Russian Federation routinely commits abuses of human rights, including the targeting and killing of civilians and children, The systematic rape and murder of women and noncombatants, The abduction of the children of Ukraine, to remove and remand them unlawfully into the custody of families in Russia, to suppress and eliminate their National Identity which, by the consensus of the free nations of the world, constitutes the Crime of Genocide, The destruction of civilian infrastructure and the targeting of humanitarian organizations as part of its doctrine of war, in violation of the Geneva and Hague Conventions and all the laws of war; Whereas the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has employed its scientific apparatus to acquire technology to construct and to deploy Nuclear weapons, to use against and destroy completely the Government and the People of the United States of America and of the Nation of Israel, and Whereas the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has declared its intent to convert by force the Peoples of the planet Earth to Islam, and Whereas the Government and the People of the United States do herein accept that Islam is a religion of Peace, and that those terrorist organizations named herein do by their declarations and by their actions, pervert and bring shame and dishonor to the institution of Islam, Therefore be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That a state of War between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran, to redress and correct these grievances, to preserve and protect the Nations of Israel and Palestine and Ukraine and to liberate the People of Iran, is hereby formally declared; and the President is hereby authorized and directed to employ the entire naval, aerial, spatial, military and cyber forces of the United States and the resources of the Government to carry on war against the Islamic Republic of Iran; and, to bring the conflict to a successful termination, all the resources of the Armed Forces are hereby pledged by the Congress of the United States.
@@M0rshu64 That is true. In fact, the Russians suffered a lot more than the US. That doesn't change the fact Stalin killed more of his own people than Hitler did. Mostly by starving them to death. Communism is great!
Thanks. Although FDR had his critics he was a great President. Four terms. As for todays politicians... to quote the great comic actor Terry Thomas... What an absolute shower.
Your teachers and parents were not there, were they? The two men could not stand each other. FDR loved Stalin. He gave Russia much more supplies and weapons than he did the UK. FDR sent food to Russia as Americans were starving. FDR ordered crops plowed under and punished farmers who did not help him starve Americans to death. Look up the Roscoe Filburn case. Tens of thousands of pigs were ordered killed and pushed into pits, as Americans starved. FDR had men going around and checking on small businesses. If they lowered their prices to get more customers, they would be punished. You could go to prison if you did not turn in all your gold to the government. As soon as the government had the gold, the price of gold went up. He robbed the people of millions of dollars, at a time when people were already starving. One of his friends said FDR robbing the people of their gold was more of a momentous event in history than the world war. He was talking about World War One. WW11 had not happened, yet. For years, FDR loved Mussolini. Churchill said FDR's New Deal was waging war on Capitalism and driving the entire world into a deeper economic disaster. There are books about how FDR was the cause of his Great Depression. You probably do not know why it is called a "depression" and not an economic recession. FDR propaganda. There are books about FDR setting Pearl Habor up for a fat target. Books about FDR refusing to save any Jews. Many of those books were written by people who were there. Much of FDR's crimes against humanity was covered on Public TV, back in the 70s. Most likely, before you were born. There were people on the program who knew FDR. One man said he showed FDR photos of piles of dead Jews snuck out of a deathcamp. People risked their lives to get those photos to FDR. He slung them on the floor and screamed he was sick of the crying of the Jew babies. One of my teachers was a Bataan Death March survivor. One was at the Battle of the Bulge. My father fought the Japanese. My uncles fought the Germans. One of my teachers was a Holocaust survivor. One grew up under Nazism. Young Americans today, did not see the films of men and women tied to posts, their sex organs and breasts cut off by Japanese soldiers. They did not see the heads piled ten feet high in China. They did not see men tied to tables as Japanese doctors cut them apart, inch-by inch. Vivisection. They did not see the horrible medical experiments the Germans inflicted on Jews. They did not see where people were told to lie down, side by side, on a road. And a German military truck runs over their chests. Crushing them. The Germans were armed only with bolt-action rifles. But none of the men even tried to rush them and take their rifles. They had no tools of freedom. No guns to fight back with. There are 120 million gun owners in the US. The largest freedom force on earth. The first thing Hitler did was take the Jews' guns. The first shots fired in the American Revolution were over the human right to own and carry guns.
Thanks. I will research your interesting points. I was brought up to revere FDR. There are statues of him in London and Manchester. Of course I realise he was a politician. GB paid big time post war for Lend Lease. GB gve up most of its Empire to pay for it. Clearly the American industrial Juggernaut won the war. Dictators... then and now... always fail to realise this.
Greetings all: My mom and dad married in 1930. He had enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1917, went to France, got out in 1919. Joined the merchant marines 1919 and finished his contract with them in 1922. Rejoined Army in 1922, and got out in 1949. In 1940 my parents shipped out to TH, and were in duplex apartments on Schofield post on the dayof the attack. Mom came back to Oklahoma in 1942 and went to work at the new TinkerUSAAF base in OKC. Dad stayed overseas until 1946, the year I was born. He was awarded the Bronze star, retired as a W-3 or W-4, in 1949. I mentioned all of this to say this: The U.S. had been opposing the Japanese expansionist efforts ever since the Japanese had invaded China in the 1930's. The U.S. was also assisting Britain in theirfight against the Nazi's. The U.S. was already involved in fighting the Axis powers, longbefore it became "official policy" to do so. The attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor,surprised Hitler as much as it did other governments (to Britain's delight). Dad did eventually get his "Pearl Harbor medal", struck by the Navy and awarded to all militarypersonnel who had been involved in the battle of Oahu. People who study history,especially military history, KNOW, that the U.S. were pulling political and military "strings"behind the scenes, before any declaration of War by the U.S. Hitler felt compelled to declare war on the U.S. because of the attack by the Japanese. He really did not want to fight the U.S. He had no choice now.
@James Arnold, Greetings to you too: I have nothing but the utmost respect for your Dad. Thank God for men like him. I was born in 1949. Are you saying that WWII was a political move and that Roosevelt and others may have been behind the acceleration of the war? I've thought that and wonder about your thoughts.
Greetings N.O. Lady. Well, basically the Japanese were flexing their expansionism muscles like many world nations before them. Americawas friendly to China, Britain, and other world governments. The AVGwas basically American Mercs, who had resigned their commissions in the U.S. Armed forces with the approval of the U.S. Government, to support the war in China, before Pearl Harbor, and then the U.S. Navy was tacitly supporting Britain's fight against Hitler, so it was politics as usual. No country of man's governments is "lily white" when it comes to working behind the scenes with a friendly country to further their own agenda. Just saying.
@@jamesarnold5731 yes behind the scenes USA was not neutral in either the Asian or European theater of war. Just like Spain and Switzerland (neutral countries) were helping the Nazis. But if the USA stood by for too much longer, the free world would of been screwed. Our military industry would of been too late to build the weapons we needed, our military would of been behind in training capable soldiers, and our allies except for the Soviets, would of been so diminished, they would be no help. The possibility of an invasion of the USA would of been far more real.
@@jamesarnold5731 I think your story is full of crap. I think you made up a personal story so that you could then spout some nonsense about the US being involved with Japan before that. Everything the US did before WW2 was as of a response to Japan and their actions and nothing else. The US gave Japan too many opportunities which was probably the reason why Japan attacked they though the US was weak.
Operation Ichi-Go is an operation conducted by the Japanese Army on the Chinese mainland from April 17th to December 10th, 1944 during the Sino-Japanese War. It was the last major offensive of the Japanese Army, which caused the National Revolutionary Army to be hit hard and affected during the Chinese Civil War. However, on the other hand, the United States is also mediating the conclusion of the Double Tenth Agreement with Chiang Kai-shek in order to avoid a civil war. According to a study by Barbara W. Tuchman, the results of this operation had a more significant impact on the subsequent war situation than the Japanese had imagined, and had a decisive impact on Japan's fate. According to it, Franklin Roosevelt has consistently strongly trusted and supported Chiang Kai-shek since the beginning of the war, and encouraged him in the war against Japan so that he would not drop out of the Allies in a single peace with Japan during the Cairo Conference. However, he said that he changed his mind because the front of Chiang Kai-shek collapsed due to this operation. In fact, Chiang Kai-shek has not been invited to important Allied conferences ("Yalta Conference" and "Potsdam Conference") since then. According to the Stilwell document, Roosevelt said, "Can China win?" Stilwell said, "There is no choice but to eliminate Chiang Kai-shek." During the 1944 Hengyang battle, he could not sleep at night and twice. He says he thought about suicide. The American side also planned to assassinate Chiang Kai-shek, and three methods of "poisoning", "aircraft incident", and "pretending to be suicide" were considered, but it was canceled in 1944 due to changes in the international situation such as Burma. The successor that the United States envisioned is Sun Fountain. As Roosevelt's Chief of Staff George Marshall and General Joseph Stilwell have long insisted, Chiang Kai-shek's army is actually a demoralized and corrupt organization that does not form an army. It became clear that he had no desire or ability to fight with the United States and other Allied forces. As a result, President Roosevelt changed the scenario of the operation against Japan from the conventional bombing of Japan and other countries from the air bases of mainland China to the one that MacArthur and others claimed to occupy the islands of the Pacific Ocean one after another. China was dismissed at the Yalta Conference, and the Allied nation's footsteps were disturbed, with angry Chiang Kai-shek presenting a peace plan to Japan against the will of the United States. The Japanese Operation Ichi-Go attack left the National Revolutionary Army with 750,000 casualties. This caused the Kuomintang to lose to the Communist Party in the civil war. China would not have been dominated by the dictatorship Communist Party if it had made peace with Japan and cooperated in protecting it from communism.
@@uk4717 the first video implies that Japan won the war because Europe and America lost their colonies. This may be true for Europe but the US gained more land instead of loosing it and Japan lost it's entire empire from Manchuria to the marshall Islands. How did Japan win by making Europe lose their colonies when Japan lost the same? The second video is about an offensive I know a bit about. If I recall the main point of the offensive was to make America pull it's air force back from several airfields in China so they couldn't bomb Japan (a fact soon made redundant by Iwo Jima and Okinawa). Japan may have also gone to war with China for anti-communist reasons as I've seen you implying but it also went to war for imperial gains. They aren't mutually exclusive, its possible they did both.
An actually honorable moment within the halls of Congress; just remembering that FDR was unable to walk and in a wheelchair makes me smile, yet today people would decry, or be cruel, in pointing out his disability; one of the greatest presidents in US history.
@@charlesbradley7905 In every respect. He was without any question the greatest wartime President after Lincoln. And I would put him nearly neck and neck with with Linclon.
In some respects he was very good. Too bad he let the communists have half of the northern hemisphere at the end of World War 2. If he hadn't done that we wouldn't have a lot of the problems we have today.
"LET SLEEPING DOGS LYE' and he who stirs the hornet's nest so must he be stunged. "FOR EVERY ACTION, THERE IS AN EQUAL OPPOSITE REACTION!" Who is next?
@@arturovilla1642 we were forced to, if he didnt America would be a sitting duck, i think your talking about Lydon Johnson as he sended people to die in Vietnam for barely any reason.
@@arturovilla1642 so we should have just given japan what they wanted? As a vietnamese, ending the Japanese empire is much more preferable to America fitting with the "land of shopkeepers" stereotype that the axis powers had.
@@ale6o ... World War II began in September of 1939 when both Britain and France declared war on Nazi Germany followings its invasion of Poland. While other allied nations such as Canada and Australia joined Britain and France in their fight against Nazi aggression in Europe, the United States remained on the outside. The United States would not join the Allied war effort until 1941 when it was attacked by the Japanese Empire in Pearl Harbor on December 7th. On May 7, 1915, a German U-boat torpedoed the British-owned luxury steamship Lusitania, killing 1,195 people including 128 Americans, according to the Library of Congress. The disaster immediately strained relations between Germany and the neutral United States, fueled anti-German sentiment and set off a chain of events that eventually led to the United States entering World War I. If we weren't attacked we might not have helped our allies .... so much for "We!"
