The
Infamy Speech was delivered at 12:30 p.m. on December 8, 1941, by
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
PresidentThe President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition...
Franklin D. RooseveltFranklin Delano Roosevelt , the only U.S. President elected to more than two terms, was a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
, one day after the
Empire of JapanThe Empire of Japan was a Japanese political entity that existed during the period from the...
's
attackThe attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Japanese navy against the United States' naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of Sunday, December 7, 1941 , later resulting in the United...
on
Pearl Harbor Naval BasePearl Harbor is a harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
,
HawaiiHawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states, and is the only state made up entirely of islands. It is located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia. The state was admitted to the Union on August...
. The name derives from the first line of the speech: Roosevelt describing the previous day as "a date which will live in infamy".
Within an hour of the speech,
CongressThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election....
passed a formal
declaration of warA declaration of war is a formal declaration issued by a national government indicating that a state of war exists between that nation and another. For the United States, Article One, Section Eight of the Constitution says "Congress shall have power to .....
against Japan and officially brought the U.S. into
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The address is regarded as one of the most famous American
politicalPolitics of the United States takes place in the framework of a presidential, federal republic where the President of the United States , United States Congress, and judiciary share federal powers, and the federal government shares sovereignty with the state governments...
speeches of the
20th centuryThe 20th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1901 and ended on December 31, 2000, according to the Gregorian calendar.The British Empire, the Russian Empire, the German Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire dissolved in the first half of the century, with all but the...
.
Commentary
The Infamy Speech was brief, running to just six and a half minutes. Secretary of State
Cordell HullCordell Hull was an American politician from the U.S. state of Tennessee. He is best-known as the longest-serving Secretary of State, holding the position for 11 years in the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt...
had recommended that the president devote more time to a fuller exposition of Japanese-American relations and the lengthy but unsuccessful effort to find a peaceful solution. However, Roosevelt kept the speech short in the belief that it would have a more dramatic effect.
The wording of Roosevelt's speech was intended to have a strong emotional impact, appealing to the anger felt by Americans at the nature of the Japanese attack. Roosevelt purposefully framed the speech around the perceived low moral character of the Japanese government. He drew a sharp contrast between the "righteous might" of the American people and the aggressive and deceitful nature of the Japanese regime. He deliberately avoided the
ChurchillianSir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC was a British politician known chiefly for his leadership of the United Kingdom during World War II. He served as Prime Minister from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. A noted statesman and orator, Churchill was also an officer...
approach of an appeal to history. Indeed, the most famous line of the speech originally read "a date which will live in
world history"; Roosevelt crossed out "world history" and replaced it with "infamy", as seen in the annotated copy of the original typewritten speech from the National Archives.
His revised statement was all the stronger for its emphatic insistence that posterity would forever endorse the American view of the attack. It was intended not merely as a personal response by the president, but as a statement on behalf of the entire American people in the face of a great collective trauma. In proclaiming the indelibility of the attack and expressing outrage at its "dastardly" nature, the speech worked to crystallize and channel the response of the nation into a collective response and resolve.
The first paragraph of the speech was carefully worded to reinforce Roosevelt's portrayal of the United States as the innocent victim of unprovoked Japanese aggression. The wording was deliberately passive. Rather than taking the more usual active voice—i.e. "Japan attacked the United States"—Roosevelt chose to put in the foreground the object being acted upon, namely the United States, to emphasize America's status as a victim. The theme of "innocence violated" was further reinforced by Roosevelt's recounting of the ongoing diplomatic negotiations with Japan, which the president characterized as having been pursued cynically and dishonestly by the Japanese government while it was secretly preparing for war against the United States.
Roosevelt consciously sought to avoid making the sort of more abstract appeal that had been issued by President
Woodrow WilsonThomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States. A leading intellectual of the Progressive Era, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
in his own speech to Congress in April 1917, when the United States entered
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
. Wilson had laid out the strategic threat posed by Germany and stressed the idealistic goals behind America's participation in the war. During the 1930s, however, American public opinion had turned strongly against such themes and was wary of—if not actively hostile to—idealistic visions of remaking the world through a "just war". Roosevelt therefore chose to make an appeal aimed much more at the gut level—in effect, an appeal to patriotism rather than to idealism. Nonetheless, he took pains to draw a symbolic link with the April 1917 declaration of war; when he went to Congress on December 8, 1941 he was accompanied by
Edith Bolling WilsonEdith Bolling Galt Wilson , second wife of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, was First Lady of the United States from 1915 to 1921. She has been labeled "the Secret President" and "the first woman to run the government" for the role she played when her husband suffered prolonged and disabling illness...
, the widow of the late president.
The "infamy framework" adopted by Roosevelt was given additional resonance by the fact that it followed the pattern of earlier narratives of great American defeats. The
Battle of the Little BighornThe Battle of the Little Bighorn —also known as Custer's Last Stand and in the parlance of the Native Americans involved, the Battle of Greasy Grass Creek—was an armed engagement between a Lakota–Northern Cheyenne combined force and the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army...
in 1876 and the sinking of the
USS MaineUSS Maine , a 19th-century ship of the United States Navy, exploded and sank on February 15, 1898 in an event that precipitated the Spanish–American War and also popularized the phrase Remember the Maine, to Hell with Spain! In subsequent years, the cause of the sinking of the Maine became the...
in 1898 had both been the source of intense national outrage and a determination to take the fight to the enemy. Defeats and setbacks were on each occasion portrayed as being merely a springboard towards an eventual and inevitable victory. As Professor Sandra Silberstein observes, Roosevelt's speech followed a well-established tradition of how "through rhetorical conventions, presidents assume extraordinary powers as the commander in chief, dissent is minimized, enemies are vilified, and lives are lost in the defense of a nation once again united under God."
The overall tone of the speech was one of determined realism. Roosevelt made no attempt to paper over the great damage that had been caused to the American armed forces, noting (without giving figures, as casualty reports were still being compiled) that "very many American lives have been lost" in the attack. However, he emphasized his confidence in the strength of the American people to face up to the challenge posed by Japan, citing the "unbounded determination of our people". He sought to reassure the public that steps were being taken to ensure their safety, noting his own role as "Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy" (the
United States Air ForceThe United States Air Force is the aerial warfare branch of the U.S. armed forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on 18 September 1947 under the National Security Act of 1947 - 80 P.L....
was at this time
part of the US ArmyThe United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II. It was a component of the United States Army, divided functionally by executive order in 1942 into three autonomous forces: the Army Ground Forces, the...
) and declaring that he had already "directed that all measures be taken for our defense".
Roosevelt also made a point of emphasizing that "our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger" and highlighted reports of Japanese attacks in the Pacific between Hawaii and San Francisco. In so doing, he sought to silence the
isolationistNon-interventionism, the diplomatic policy whereby a nation seeks to avoid alliances with other nations in order to avoid being drawn into wars not related to direct territorial self-defense, has had a long history in the United States....
movement which had campaigned so strongly against American involvement in the war in Europe. If the territory and waters of the continental United States—not just outlying possessions such as the Philippines—was seen as being under direct threat, isolationism would become an unsustainable course of action. Roosevelt's speech had the desired effect, with only one Representative voting against the declaration of war he sought; the wider isolationist movement collapsed almost immediately.
The speech's "infamy" line is often misquoted as "a
day that will live in infamy". However, Roosevelt quite deliberately chose to emphasize the
date—December 7, 1941—rather than the
day of the attack, a Sunday, which he mentioned only in the last line when he said, "...Sunday, December 7th, 1941,...". He sought to emphasize the historic nature of the events at Pearl Harbor, implicitly urging the American people never to forget the attack and memorialize its date. Ironically, the misquoted term "day of infamy" has become widely used by the media to refer to any moment of supreme disgrace or evil.
Impact
Roosevelt's speech had an immediate and long-lasting impact on American politics. Thirty-three minutes after he finished speaking, Congress declared war on Japan, with only one Representative,
Jeannette RankinJeannette Pickering Rankin was the first woman to be elected to the United States House of Representatives and the first female member of the Congress sometimes referred to as the Lady of the House...
, voting against the declaration. The speech was broadcast live by radio and attracted the largest audience in US radio history, with over 81 percent of American homes tuning in to hear the President. The response was overwhelmingly positive, both within and outside of Congress. Judge
Samuel Irving RosenmanSamuel Irving Rosenman was a U.S. lawyer, judge, Democratic political figure, and presidential speechwriter.Rosenman was born in San Antonio, Texas, son of Solomon and Ethel Rosenman. He served in the U.S. Army during World War I and graduated From Columbia Law School in 1919. He was a member of...
, who served as an adviser to Roosevelt, described the scene:
The White House was inundated with telegrams praising the president's stance ("On that Sunday we were dismayed and frightened, but your unbounded courage pulled us together."). Recruiting stations were jammed with a surge of volunteers and had to go on 24-hour duty to deal with the crowds seeking to sign up, in numbers reported to be twice as high as after Woodrow Wilson's declaration of war in 1917. The anti-war and isolationist movement collapsed in the wake of the speech, with even the president's fiercest critics falling into line.
Charles LindberghCharles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor and explorer.On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh, then a 25-year old U.S...
, who had been a leading isolationist, declared:
Roosevelt's framing of the Pearl Harbor attack became, in effect, the standard American narrative of the events of December 7, 1941. Hollywood enthusiastically adopted the narrative in a number of war films.
Wake IslandWake Island is a 1942 film which tells the story of the United States military garrison on Wake Island and the onslaught by the Japanese following the attack on Pearl Harbor. The movie was written by W.R. Burnett and Frank Butler, and directed by John Farrow...
, the Academy Award-winning
Air Force and the 1943 films
Man from Frisco and
Betrayal from the East all included actual radio reports of the pre-December 7 negotiations with the Japanese, reinforcing the message of enemy duplicity.
Across the Pacific,
Salute the Marines and
Spy Ship used a similar device, relating the progress of US–Japanese relations through newspaper headlines. The theme of American innocence betrayed was also frequently depicted on screen, the
melodramaThe theatrical genre of melodrama uses theme-music to manipulate the spectator's emotional response and to denote character types. The term combines "melody" and "drama" . While the use of music is nearly ubiquitous in modern film, in most cases it is used within a fairly rigid structure...
tic aspects of the narrative lending themselves naturally to the movies.
The president's description of December 7 as "a date which will live in infamy" was borne out; the date very quickly became shorthand for the Pearl Harbor attack in much the same way that September 11 became inextricably associated with the
2001 terrorist attacksThe September 11 attacks were a series of coordinated suicide attacks by Al-Qaeda upon the United States on September 11, 2001. On that morning, 19 Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners...
. The slogans "Remember December 7th" and "Avenge December 7" were adopted as a rallying cry and were widely displayed on posters and lapel pins.
Prelude to WarPrelude to War was the first film of Frank Capra's Why We Fight propaganda film series, commissioned by the Pentagon and George C. Marshall...
, the first of
Frank CapraFrank Russell Capra was an American film director and a creative force behind a number of films of the 1930s and 1940s, including It Happened One Night , Mr. Deeds Goes to Town , You Can't Take It With You , Mr...
's
Why We FightWhy We Fight is a series of seven propaganda films commissioned by the United States government during World War II to demonstrate to American soldiers the reason for U.S. involvement in the war. Later on they were also shown to the general U.S...
film series, urged Americans to remember the date of the Japanese invasion of
ManchuriaManchuria is a historical name given to a vast geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria either falls entirely within China, or is divided between China and Russia...
, September 18, 1931, "as well as we remember December 7th 1941, for on that date in 1931 the war we are now fighting began." The symbolism of the date was highlighted in a scene in the 1943 film
BombardierBombardier is a 1943 film war drama about the training program for bombardiers of the United States Army Air Forces. The film stars Pat O'Brien and Randolph Scott. Bombardier was nominated for an Academy Award in 1944 for the special effects used in the film...
, in which the leader of a group of airmen walks up to a calendar on the wall, points to the date ("December 7, 1941") and tells his men: "Gentlemen, there's a date we will always remember—and they'll never forget!"
60 years later, the continuing resonance of the Infamy Speech was demonstrated following the
September 11, 2001 attacksThe September 11 attacks were a series of coordinated suicide attacks by Al-Qaeda upon the United States on September 11, 2001. On that morning, 19 Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners...
, which many commentators compared with Pearl Harbor in terms of its impact and deadliness. In the days following the attacks, Dr. Richard Jackson notes that "there [was] a deliberate and sustained effort" on the part of the
George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush was the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 and the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000....
administration to "discursively link September 11, 2001 to the attack on Pearl Harbor itself", both by directly invoking Roosevelt's Infamy Speech and by re-using the themes employed by Roosevelt in his speech. In Bush's speech to the nation on September 11, 2001, he contrasted the "evil, despicable acts of terror" with the "brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity" that America represented in his view. Sandra Silberstein draws direct parallels between the language used by Roosevelt and Bush, highlighting a number of similarities between the Infamy Speech and Bush's presidential address of September 11. Similarly, Emily S. Rosenberg notes rhetorical efforts to link the conflicts of 1941 and 2001 by re-utilizing Second World War terminology of the sort used by Roosevelt, such as using the term "axis" to refer to America's enemies (as in "
Axis of Evil"Axis of evil" is a term coined by United States President George W. Bush in his State of the Union Address on January 29, 2002 in order to describe governments that he accused of helping terrorism and seeking weapons of mass destruction. President Bush named Iran, Iraq and North Korea...
").
Media
See also
- Japanese declaration of war on the United States and Britain
The declaration of war by the Empire of Japan on the United States and the British Empire document was released on December 8, 1941 after the attack on Pearl Harbor was executed pre-emptively. The declaration of war was printed on the front page of all newspapers in Japan in the evening edition on...
- Events leading to the attack on Pearl Harbor
A series of historical events leading to the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred that contributed to the actual attack. War between Japan and the United States had been a possibility that each nation's militaries planned for since the 1920s, though real tension did not begin until the 1931 invasion of...
External links