James Roosevelt said he placed the “reading copy” atop a coat rack where he hung his own coat. The “reading copy” of the speech has its own complicated history.Īfter speaking, Roosevelt left the Capitol, accompanied by his oldest son, James Roosevelt, who asserted that he brought the reading copy back to the White House. Roosevelt ended his six-minute address by asking Congress for a declaration of war against Japan. (It’s likely, some historians have noted, that he did not need to refer to it much because he had drafted the address himself, since his two principal speechwriters were out of town that day.) Roosevelt had only the printed text, a “reading copy,” to rely on, so it needed to be typed up to make it easy for him to read. In 1941, Presidents did not read from teleprompters as they do today. Page one of the copy held by the Franklin D. “Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy,” he began, “the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by the naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.” It was direct, powerful, short, and to-the-point.Īnd it would be well-remembered-even though FDR’s final “reading copy” hasn’t been seen since shortly after he delivered it. The speech became one of the greatest of the 20th century. The news was bad, and a shocked nation now looked to FDR. Roosevelt began writing the speech he would give to Congress the next day. installations in the Pacific 75 years ago, President Franklin D. 8,1941, Read in joint session”, and filed it away for the ages.President Roosevelt delivers the “Day of Infamy” speech to a joint session of Congress on December 8, 1941.Īs news emerged of the Japanese sneak attacks on Pearl Harbor and other U.S. A Senate clerk retrieved it, wrote on it “Dec. FDR evidently left it behind in the House chamber, where the address took place.
Then in March 1984, a National Archives employee found the copy in the records of the US Senate, Record Group 46.
When he returned to the White House, FDR did not give the copy to Grace Tully to file. One long-standing mystery surrounding the address was the whereabouts of the final draft – the reading copy FDR placed on the podium in front of him. The speech was broadcast live on radio, and heard in an astounding 81 percent of American households. Jeannette Rankin (R) of Montana, voted “no.” She was a lifelong pacifist who had also voted against the US entry into World War I. Thirty-three minutes after Roosevelt finished speaking, Congress voted to declare war on Japan.
FDR also added by hand another of the speech’s famous impact lines: “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.” Yes, the word which defined the speech itself was a last-minute addition. It began, “Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date which will live in world history.“ But FDR scratched “world history” out with his pen, and printed over it in a spidery hand, the single word “infamy.” The draft itself had been dictated to FDR’s secretary Grace Tully at about 5 PM on December 7. You can see that in FDR’s notations on the first draft of the speech, posted online by the FDR presidential library. His aim was to unify the country, not explain the US position to the world. Secretary of State Cordell Hull had argued for a longer address laying out the recent history of US-Japanese diplomatic negotiations, but the president rejected him. The whole speech was short, only six minutes or so, and intended to convey an emotional jolt to the American people. Speaker, members of the Senate, and of the House of Representatives, 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.” Gripping the podium in front of him, at about 12:30 PM on the day after the attack, FDR said this: “Mr. It was the very first line of his speech to the hushed assembled lawmakers. But December 8, 1941, was the day of “infamy” – the date when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in a joint session of Congress spoke the famous line that helped rally the nation and defined the event for generations of Americans to come. December 7, 1941, was the day of infamy – the date when the Japanese hit Pearl Harbor with a surprise attack.