"I'D LIKE TO DICTATE MY MESSAGE. IT WILL BE SHORT!"

US DECLARES WAR ON JAPAN; FDR CALLS YESTERDAY'S ATTACK A 'DAY OF INFAMY'

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On December 8, 1941, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt addressed a joint session of congress announcing that the United States is "in a state of war" with Japan following the attack yesterday on the Hawaiian Islands.

The President said...

"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."

And with firmness and resolve, FDR added...

"No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will will win through to absolute victory."

JFK+50 NOTE

On the evening of Dec 7, 1941, FDR called in his secretary, Grace Tully*, and said..."Sit down Grace.  I'm going before the Congress tomorrow and I'd like to dictate my message.  It will be short."

The National Archives describes FDR's short message as "one of the most famous speeches of the 20th century, giving birth to one of the most famous phrases ("a date which will live in infamy").

In the first draft the phrase was "a date which will live in world history," but as you can see in the document below, it was crossed out and reworded...the rest is history. 

*Grace Tully (1900-1984) was born in Bayonne, New Jersey & educated at Grace Institute of NY before joining Gov. Roosevelt's staff as assistant to FDR's secretary, Missy LeHand. 

GT replaced ML as presidential secretary in June 1941 & served in that position until FDR's death in April 1945.  She typed the first draft of FDR's "Day of Infamy" address.

SOURCES

"FDR's 'Day of Infamy' Speech," Prologue Magazine, National Archives, Winter 2001, www.archives.gov/

"Speech by FDR (Transcript)," Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/

"U.S. Declares War On Japan," JFK+50, December 8, 2011, www.jfk50.blogspot.com/

"Day of Infamy Address, 1st Draft Changes"

FDR Presidential Library

"DEC 7 1941, A DATE WHICH WILL LIVE IN INFAMY"

FDR GETS NEWS OF PEARL HARBOR ATTACK BY TELEPHONE

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) It was 1:47 on a Sunday afternoon at the White House on December 7, 1941.  President Franklin D. Roosevelt sat at his desk when the telephone rang.  FDR picked up the receiver and heard the voice of Navy Secretary Frank Knox* who had just received a radio message.  Honolulu was under attack and it was not a drill.

Herman Eberhardt, curator of the FDR Library at Hyde Park, New York, says that the President shouted "NO!"  Eberhardt describes it as "the worst day of his presidency," but it marked the shift from the United States being an isolationist nation "to being a global power."

FDR held a meeting with his war council just after 3 p.m.  Although the President was "clearly upset" he did not "lose his cool."  After the meeting, he dictated a speech to his secretary, Grace Tully**.  It was to be delivered to Congress the following day.

The President dictated the words...

"Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date which will live in world history..."

but later as FDR edited the speech, he crossed out world history.  Now it read...

"Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy..."

*William Franklin Knox (1874-1944) was born in Boston & earned his B.A. at Alma College.  WFK served in the Spanish-American War & WWI.  He became a newspaper editor & publisher & was a Republican vice-presidential candidate in 1936.  WFK served as FDR's Secretary of the Navy for most of WWII.

**Grace Tully (1900-1984) was born in Bayonne, NJ & served as FDR's private secretary from June 1941 to April 1945.

SOURCES

"FDR reacts to news of Pearl Harbor bombing," 1941, December 7, www.history.com/

"Pearl Harbor:  How FDR responded to the 'day of infamy'," CBS NEWS, December 4, 2016, www.cbsnews.com/

"Pearl Harbor day:  How FDR reacted on December 7, 1941," by Peter Grier, The Christian Science Monitor, www.csmonitor.com/ 

 

 

 

Infamy Speech

7 December 41

by Grace Tully & FDR

www.archives.gov/

education/lessons/

day-of-infamy/

"I COULD FEEL A CHILL IN MY HEART, A SENSE THAT THIS WAS DIFFERENT"

LONGEST SERVING POTUS IS DEAD

Warm Springs, Georgia (JFK+50) Shortly after 1 p.m. on April 12, 1945, Franklin D. Roosevelt, the longest-serving President of the United States, died of a cerebral hemorrhage at the Little White House* here in Warm Springs.

The President, while having his portrait made in the living room,, suddenly grabbed his head and said..."I have a terrific headache".  

Grace Tully**, FDR's private secretary, was alerted that the President was sick and asked to call a doctor.  She later wrote...

"I could feel a chill in my heart, a sense that this was something different...I decided to go at once to the President's cottage."

When she arrived, two doctors were attending the President in his bedroom. They soon came out with the sad news.   President Roosevelt was dead.

JFK+50 NOTE

According to Mel Ayton's book "Hunting the President," the White House grounds had been open to the public up until the attack on Pearl Harbor.  Before visitors, as many as 15,000 a day, "could walk up to the front door" and "drivers could pass by the North Portico."

After December 7, 1941, that all changed.  "Gates were closed, tourists were banned, and armed soldiers....guarded the executive mansion."

*Little White House opened as a museum in 1948.  The portrait that artist Elizabeth Shoumatoff was painting at the time of FDR's collapse, now titled "The Unfinished Portrait," is on display here. 

**Grace Tully (1900-1984) was born in Bayonne, NJ.  She was educated at the Grace Institute of NY and served on the staff of NY Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt.  In 1941, she replaced Missy LeHand as FDR's personal secretary.

SOURCE

"Hunting the President, Threats, Plots, and Assassination Attempts--from FDR to Obama," by Mel Ayton, MJF Books, New York, 2014. 

FDR's Bedroom

Little White House

Warm Springs, Georgia

Photo by Thomsonmg2000

(own work) en.wikipedia.com/