It was dictated by FDR without notes to his assistant Grace Tully just three hours after he learned of the attack. It was not crafted from polling data and political objectives. This address was not written by a committee of speechwriters and consultants. Its message of resolve and determination in the face of a devastating attack is as relevant today as it was then.
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It also represents the tipping point, the actual moment when the United States was transformed from an isolationist nation to a global superpower and leader of the free world. “Four score and seven years ago…” “Ask not what your country…” “…tear down this wall.”įDR’s Pearl Harbor speech is in my opinion the most important speech of the 20 th century because it is an extraordinary example of true leadership, vision and clarity. The key phrases of the great orators resonate years, even decades later. It is rare when a presidential speech transcends the political moment to become an iconic statement for the ages. One day before the 74 th anniversary of President Roosevelt’s historic address to Congress in response to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor it is important to examine the true meaning of the speech, and how it came to be.