Fdr Infamy Speech Analysis

“Yesterday, December 7, 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.” Followed up on December 8, 1941 the president at the time, Franklin D. Roosevelt, gave the famous “A day that will live in infamy” speech. As Roosevelt gave this speech he did it to address congress with the purpose to ask them to declare a war on japan (which they did almost immediately), as well as to get American to support the war. Through his speech FDR uses vivid language to portray the emotions Americans should feel, repetition of Japan so it is known that they are the enemy, and a call to action to both Americans and congress so that war could be declared.

As seen in the beginning of the speech there were emotional words such as “suddenly and deliberately attacked”, “this form of treachery”, and “unprovoked and dastardly.” These words were vivid and they were meant to portray the Japanese actions as being terrible and disgraceful. These words were chosen specifically for this speech, because of how powerful they are. Powerful words such as these were meant to fill Americans with emotions, to make them feel anger for the lives that were taken, feel sad for the terrible incident that occurred, and cause them to take action.

FDR also uses the repetition of Japan throughout the speech, showing that all of japan was involved in this attack, not just the military. For example in his speech he states “Yesterday

the Japanese government also launched an attack against Malaya” and “… the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the empire of japan.” This repetition is used to explain that all of Japan is a threat not just the military.

By convincing people this it was more likely that America would want to initiate another war, rather than if it was just one small part of Japan. It is a different story when it is all of Japan, because in that case there would have to be a war. As a country there was no way that we could allow there to be continuous attacks, especially if there was a way we could stop it. The use of repetition that FDR uses resonates with the listeners and they are able to tie this horrible event with

Japan.

Lastly like with every effective speech there is a call to action.

This speeches call to action makes a final statement to get congress to declare war, and to get the American people to support the cause. As FDR states “I ask that the congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan…a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire.” Both of these things were accomplished after the speech was aired on television, congress declared war and the majority of Americans supported it. This just proves how affective the speech was and that is why it is studied and analyzed. We are able to see the elements and words FDR used in his speech, especially during such a time of panic for the United States. He was able to clearly portray the fear that Americans probably had felt and he used that to get congress to declare war on Japan, which is what brought the United States into World War

II.

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s speech “A day that will live in infamy” was given the day after Japan attacked the American naval base in Hawaii, at Pearl Harbor. A speech that used repetition to make it clear to who the enemy is, vivid language to provoke emotion from the people, and a call to action to get congress to declare war- which was the main reason this speech was delivered. The techniques that FDR used throughout this speech helped significantly to get his

point across because his techniques made it very evident that this war needed to happen. He succeeded in getting his point across because war did occur and it was something that the American people believed needed to happen. “The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation.”