"A Date Which Will Live in Infamy": The First Typed Draft of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s War Address

Historical Background

Early in the afternoon of December 7, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his chief foreign policy aide, Harry Hopkins, were interrupted by a telephone call from Secretary of War Henry Stimson and told that the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor. At about 5:00 p.m., following meetings with his military advisers, the President calmly and decisively dictated to his secretary, Grace Tully, a request to Congress for a declaration of war. He had composed the speech in his head after deciding on a brief, uncomplicated appeal to the people of the United States rather than a thorough recitation of Japanese perfidies, as Secretary of State Cordell Hull had urged.

President Roosevelt then revised the typed draft—marking it up, updating military information, and selecting alternative wordings that strengthened the tone of the speech. He made the most significant change in the critical first line, which originally read, "a date which will live in world history." Grace Tully then prepared the final reading copy, which Roosevelt subsequently altered in three more places.

On December 8, at 12:30 p.m., Roosevelt addressed a joint session of Congress and the Nation via radio. The Senate responded with a unanimous vote in support of war; only Montana pacifist Jeanette Rankin dissented in the House. At 4:00 p.m. that same afternoon, President Roosevelt signed the declaration of war.

The document featured in this article, the typewritten draft, is housed at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library in Hyde Park, NY (The library is administered by the National Archives and Records Administration.) Roosevelt misplaced his reading copy immediately following the speech; it remained missing for 43 years. Instead of bringing the reading copy back to the White House for Grace Tully to file, the President evidently left it in the House chamber, where he had given the address. A Senate clerk took charge of it, endorsed it "Dec 8, 1941, Read in joint session," and filed it. In March 1984 an archivist located the reading copy among the Records of the U.S. Senate, Record Group 46, located in the National Archives Building, where it remains today.

Teaching Activities

Written Document Analysis

1. Ask students to define each of the following vocabulary terms as used in this speech: infamy, premeditated, implications, onslaught, uttermost, mincing, and dastardly.

2. Place students in groups of two or three, and ask each group to find examples in Roosevelt’s address of these techniques for enhancing the effect of a speech: repetition, alliteration, emotionally charged words, appeal to self-preservation, and assurance of moral superiority.

3. Lead a class discussion on these questions: Towhom was this speech addressed? What appeals are made to each group?

4. Help students compare the handwritten changes with the original typed draft. Ask each student to select three changes from this draft of the speech and explain whether the changes strengthened or weakened the address, considering the audiences they have identified.

Listening Skills

5. Bring in a recording of Roosevelt delivering this six-minute address. Duplicate and distribute copies of the Sound Recording Analysis Worksheet for students, provide them with the setting, and ask them to complete the worksheet.

For Further Investigation

6. Ask students to compare and contrast Roosevelt’s "Day of Infamy" address with Patrick Henry’s "Liberty or Death" speech before the Virginia Convention. They should include the following suggestions:

a. Describe the setting of each speech.
b. Find examples in Henry’s speech of allusion, hyperbole, onomatopoeia,
rhetorical questioning, metaphor, repetition, and alliteration.
c. Examine Roosevelt’s speech for examples of these literary devices.
d. Recognizing that both speeches are outstanding examples of war addresses,
consider how they are different and how they are similar.
e. Decide why each of these speeches was effective.
f. Decide which speech you believe is most effective and explain why.

7. Ask students to interview a person who heard President Roosevelt deliver the "Day of Infamy" address and to write an article about the experience. Students should ask the following questions of the interviewee for their articles:

a. How old were you and where were you at the time of the address?

b. What do you recall about your feelings toward U.S. involvement in the war before Pearl Harbor?

c. What were you doing when news of Pearl Harbor broke?

d. What was your reaction to the news of Pearl Harbor, and what, if anything, did you do upon hearing the news?

e. How did President Roosevelt sound making the speech?

f. What were your reactions to the speech in feelings and deeds?

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