Infamy speech - wikipedia Infamy speech Roosevelt delivers the speech to Congress. Behind him are Vice President Henry A. Wallace ( left ) and Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn. To the right, in uniform in front of Rayburn, is Roosevelt 's son James, who escorted his father to the Capitol. President of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt The Infamy Speech was a speech delivered by United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt to a Joint Session of the US Congress on December 8, 1941, one day after the Empire of Japan 's attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and the Japanese declaration of war on the United States and the British Empire. The name derives from the first line of the speech : Roosevelt describing the previous day as `` a date which will live in infamy ''. The speech is also commonly referred to as the `` Pearl Harbor Speech ''. Within an hour of the speech, Congress passed a formal declaration of war against Japan and officially brought the U.S. into World War II. The address is one of the most famous of all American political speeches. Contents 1 Commentary 2 Impact and legacy 3 Media 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References 7 External links Commentary A first draft of the Infamy Speech, with changes by Roosevelt FDR Pearl Harbor speech Entire speech. ( 3.1 MB, ogg / Vorbis format ). Problems playing this file ? See media help. The wreckage of the USS Arizona ablaze after the attack The Infamy Speech was brief, running to just a little over seven minutes. Secretary of State Cordell Hull 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. 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 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 Wilson in his own speech to Congress in April 1917, when the United States entered World War I. Wilson 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 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 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 Wilson, President Wilson 's widow. 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 Bighorn in 1876 and the sinking of the USS Maine 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 ''. Roosevelt expertly employed one of the three terms defined by the ancient Sophists as essential to their definition of rhetoric. Coming from over two thousand years ago, the idea of kairos, which relates to speaking in a timely manner, makes this speech powerful and rhetorically important. Delivering his speech on the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt presented himself as immediately ready to face this issue, indicating its importance to both him and the nation. As Campbell notes in Deeds Done in Words : Presidential Rhetoric and the Genres of Governance, war rhetoric is similar to inaugural rhetoric in that the speaker utilizes their speech to inform their audience that now is the necessary time for them to take charge. In this sense, the timing of the speech in coordination with Roosevelt 's powerful war rhetoric allowed the immediate and almost unanimous approval of Congress to go to war. Essentially, Roosevelt 's speech and timing extended his executive powers to not only declaring war but also making war, a power that constitutionally belongs to Congress. 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 re-assure 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 Force was at this time part of the U.S. Army ) 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 isolationist 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 ( Jeannette Rankin ) 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. Notwithstanding, the term `` day of infamy '' has become widely used by the media to refer to any moment of supreme disgrace or evil. Impact and legacy 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 Rankin, 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 Rosenman, who served as an adviser to Roosevelt, described the scene : It was a most dramatic spectacle there in the chamber of the House of Representatives. On most of the President 's personal appearances before Congress, we found applause coming largely from one side -- the Democratic side. But this day was different. The applause, the spirit of cooperation, came equally from both sides... The new feeling of unity which suddenly welled up in the chamber on December 8, the common purpose behind the leadership of the President, the joint determination to see things through, were typical of what was taking place throughout the country. 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 Lindbergh, who had been a leading isolationist, declared : Now ( war ) has come and we must meet it as united Americans regardless of our attitude in the past toward the policy our Government has followed... Our country has been attacked by force of arms, and by force of arms we must retaliate. We must now turn every effort to building the greatest and most efficient Army, Navy and Air Force in the world. 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 Island, the Academy Award - winning Air Force and the films Man from Frisco ( 1944 ), and Betrayal from the East ( 1945 ), all included actual radio reports of the pre-December 7 negotiations with the Japanese, reinforcing the message of enemy duplicity. Across the Pacific ( 1942 ), Salute to the Marines ( 1943 ), and Spy Ship ( 1942 ), 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 melodramatic 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 attacks. 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 War ( 1942 ), the first of Frank Capra 's Why We Fight film series ( 1942 -- 45 ), urged Americans to remember the date of the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, 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 Bombardier, 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 ! '' Sixty years later, the continuing resonance of the Infamy Speech was demonstrated following the September 11, 2001 attacks, which many commentators compared with Pearl Harbor in terms of its impact and deadliness. In the days following the attacks, author Richard Jackson notes in his book Writing the War on Terrorism : Language, Politics and Counter-terrorism that `` there ( was ) a deliberate and sustained effort '' on the part of the George W. Bush 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. University of Washington Professor and author 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 '' ). It was used by Spanish PM, José Maria Aznar, hours after the 2004 Madrid train bombings : `` On March 11, 2004, it already occupies its place in the history of infamy. '' Media `` A date which will live in infamy '' Section of the infamy speech with famous phrase. ( 168 KB, ogg / Vorbis format ). Problems playing this file ? See media help. Wikisource has original text related to this article : Pearl Harbor speech An annotated version of the speech, showing the original wording `` a date which will live in world history '' Anti-war protest sign prior to U.S. entry into World War II. Franklin D. Roosevelt signing the declaration of war against Japan. `` Avenge December 7 ! '' US Government propaganda poster of 1942 See also Events leading to the attack on Pearl Harbor Japanese declaration of war on the United States and the British Empire Walter Lord # Publications, Lord wrote Day of Infamy ( 1957 ) Notes Jump up ^ Presidential Materials, September 11 : Bearing Witness to History, Smithsonian Institution ( 2002 ) ( `` Printed copy of the Presidential address to Congress Reminiscent of Franklin D. Roosevelt 's address to Congress after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor '' ) Jump up ^ Address by the President of the United States, December 8, 1941, in Declarations of a State of War with Japan and Germany, Senate Document No. 148 ( 77th Congress, 1st Session ), at p. 7, reprinted at the University of Virginia School of Law project page, Peter DeHaven Sharp, ed. Jump up ^ See Senate Document No. 148 ( 77th Congress, 1st Session ), in Congressional Serial Set ( 1942 ) Jump up ^ William S. Dietrich, In the shadow of the rising sun : the political roots of American economic decline ( 1991 ), p. xii. Jump up ^ Franklin Odo, ed., The Columbia documentary history of the Asian American experience, p. 77. Jump up ^ `` FDR 's `` Day of Infamy '' Speech : Crafting a Call to Arms ``, Prologue magazine, US National Archives, Winter 2001, Vol. 33, No. 4. ^ Jump up to : Brown 1998, pp. 117 -- 120 Jump up ^ Neil J. Smelser, in Cultural Trauma and Collective Identity, p. 69. University of California Press, 2004. ISBN 0 - 520 - 23595 - 9. Jump up ^ James Jasinski, Sourcebook on Rhetoric : key concepts in contemporary rhetorical studies. Sage Publications Inc, 2001. ISBN 0 - 7619 - 0504 - 9. Jump up ^ Hermann G. Steltner, `` War Message : December 8, 1941 -- An Approach to Language '', in Landmark Essays on Rhetorical Criticism ed. Thomas W. Benson. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1993. ISBN 1 - 880393 - 08 - 5. Jump up ^ Onion, Rebecca ( 2014 - 12 - 08 ). `` FDR 's First Draft of His `` Day of Infamy '' Speech, With His Notes ``. Slate. Retrieved 2015 - 11 - 16. ^ Jump up to : Emily S Rosenberg, A Date Which Will Live : Pearl Harbor in American Memory. Duke University Press, 2003. ISBN 0 - 8223 - 3206 - X. ^ Jump up to : Sandra Silberstein, War of Words : Language, Politics, and 9 / 11, p. 15. Routledge, 2002. ISBN 0 - 415 - 29047 - 3. Jump up ^ Poulakos, John ( 1983 ). `` Toward a Sophistic Definition of Rhetoric ''. Philosophy & Rhetoric. 16 ( 1 ) : 35 -- 48. JSTOR 40237348. Jump up ^ Campbell, Karlyn ( 1990 ). Deeds Done in Words : Presidential Rhetoric and the Genres of Governance. Chicago : University of Chicago. Jump up ^ `` Day of infamy '', Merriam - Webster 's Dictionary of Allusions, ed. Elizabeth Webber, Mike Feinsilber. Merriam - Webster, 1999. ISBN 0 - 87779 - 628 - 9. Jump up ^ Samuel Irving Rosenman, quoted in Brown 1998, p. 119 Jump up ^ Quoted in Brown 1998, p. 119 Jump up ^ Quoted in Brown 1998, p. 120 Jump up ^ Barta 1998, pp. 85 -- 87 Jump up ^ Robert J. Sickels, The 1940s, p. 6. Greenwood Press, 2004. ISBN 0 - 313 - 31299 - 0. Jump up ^ Quoted by Benjamin L. Alpers, `` This Is The Army '', in The World War II Reader, ed. Gordon Martel, p. 167. Routledge, 2004. ISBN 0 - 415 - 22402 - 0. Jump up ^ Quoted in Barta, 1998, p. 87. Jump up ^ See for instance CNN, `` Day of Terror -- a 21st century ' day of infamy ' '', September 2001. Jump up ^ Richard Jackson, Writing the War on Terrorism : language, politics and counter-terrorism, p. 33. Manchester University Press, 2005. Jump up ^ See e.g., Paul Wolfowitz, `` Standup of US Northern Command '', speech of October 1, 2002 : `` Although September 11th has taken its place alongside December 7th as a date that will live in infamy... '' Jump up ^ George W. Bush, Address to the Nation of September 11, 2001. References Barta, Tony, ed. ( 1998 ). Screening the past : film and the representation of history. Westport, CT ( u.a. ) : Praeger. ISBN 0 - 275 - 95402 - 1. Brown, Robert J. ( 1998 ). Manipulating the ether : the power of broadcast radio in thirties America. Jefferson, NC ( u.a. ) : McFarland. ISBN 9780786403974. Freidel, Frank ( 1990 ). Franklin D. Roosevelt : A Rendezvous with Destiny. Boston : Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0 - 316 - 29260 - 5. External links Transcript ( contains some errors and truncations ) Recording of the speech `` FDR 's `` Day of Infamy '' Speech : Crafting a Call to Arms '' -- article from the National Archives and Records Administration on the speech with images of Roosevelt 's original draft of the text `` The Pearl Harbour Speech '' on Dailymotion, the speech animated with kinetic typography Franklin D. Roosevelt 32nd President of the United States ( 1933 -- 1945 ) 44th Governor of New York ( 1929 -- 1932 ) Assistant Secretary of the Navy ( 1913 -- 1920 ) New York State Senator ( 1911 -- 1913 ) Presidency Inaugurations ( 1st 2nd 3rd 4th ) New Deal overview New Deal coalition First 100 days Second New Deal Federal Emergency Relief Administration Civilian Conservation Corps Agricultural Adjustment Administration Emergency Banking Act Tennessee Valley Authority National Labor Relations Act National Industry Recovery Act Public Works Administration National Recovery Administration Works Progress Administration National Youth Administration Social Security Act Aid to Families with Dependent Children Communications Act of 1934 Federal Communications Commission Securities and Exchange Commission Monetary gold ownership Gold Reserve Act Silver seizure Record on civil rights Defense industry non-discrimination Fair Employment Practices Commission Indian Reorganization Act Executive Orders 9066, 9102 War Relocation Authority Japanese American internment German - American internment Italian - American internment Brownlow Committee Executive Office of the President G.I. Bill of Rights Cullen -- Harrison Act Roerich Pact Four Freedoms Four Freedoms Monument Black Cabinet Jefferson 's Birthday holiday Judicial Court - Packing Bill Federal Judicial appointments Supreme Court Cabinet `` Brain Trust '' Modern Oval Office Official car Criticism Presidential Foreign policy Banana Wars U.S. occupation of Nicaragua, 1912 -- 1933 U.S. occupation of Haiti, 1915 -- 1934 Good Neighbor Policy ( 1933 -- 1945 ) Montevideo Convention ( 1933 ) Second London Naval Treaty ( 1936 ) ABCD line ( 1940 ) Export Control Act Four Policemen Lend - Lease 1940 Selective Service Act Atlantic Charter ( 1941 ) Military history of the United States during World War II Home front during World War II Combined Munitions Assignments Board War Production Board Declaration by United Nations ( 1942 ) Dumbarton Oaks Conference World War II conferences Quebec Agreement Europe first Morgentau Plan support Presidential speeches Commonwealth Club Address Madison Square Garden speech `` Four Freedoms '' Infamy Speech Arsenal of Democracy ``... is fear itself '' Fireside chats `` Look to Norway '' Quarantine Speech `` The More Abundant Life '' Second Bill of Rights State of the Union Address ( 1934 1938 1939 1940 1941 1945 ) Other events Early life, education, career Warm Springs Institute Governorship of New York Business Plot Assassination attempt Elections New York state election, 1928 1930 Democratic National Convention, 1920 1924 1932 1936 1940 1944 United States presidential election, 1920 1932 theme song 1936 1940 1944 Life and homes Early life and education Groton School `` Springwood '' birthplace, home, and gravesite Campobello home Paralytic illness Top Cottage Little White House, Warm Springs, Georgia Legacy Presidential Library and Museum Roosevelt Institute Roosevelt Institute Campus Network Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial Roosevelt Island Four Freedoms Park White House Roosevelt Room Roosevelt Study Center Four Freedoms Award Four Freedoms paintings Unfinished portrait U.S. Postage stamps Roosevelt dime Films The Roosevelt Story 1947 Sunrise at Campobello 1960 Eleanor and Franklin 1976, The White House Years 1977 World War II : When Lions Roared Warm Springs 2005 Hyde Park on Hudson 2012 The Roosevelts 2014 documentary Other namesakes Roosevelt family Delano family Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( wife ) Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( daughter ) James Roosevelt II ( son ) Elliott Roosevelt ( son ) Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr. ( son ) John Aspinwall Roosevelt II ( son ) Eleanor Roosevelt Seagraves ( granddaughter ) Curtis Roosevelt ( grandson ) Sara Delano Roosevelt ( granddaughter ) Franklin Delano Roosevelt III ( grandson ) John Roosevelt Boettiger ( grandson ) James Roosevelt III ( grandson ) James Roosevelt I ( father ) Sara Ann Delano ( mother ) James Roosevelt Roosevelt ( half - brother ) Isaac Roosevelt ( grandfather ) Jacobus Roosevelt ( great - grandfather ) Fala ( family dog ) ← Herbert Hoover Harry S. Truman → Pearl Harbor attack Attack Events leading to the attack Order of battle Present US ships Battleship Row Niihau incident Japanese carriers involved Akagi Kaga Sōryū Hiryū Shōkaku Zuikaku United States ships sunk Arizona salvaged artifacts California Oglala Oklahoma Shaw Sotoyomo Utah West Virginia YFD - 2 Aftermath Consequences Sleeping giant quote Infamy Speech U.S. declaration of war Roberts Commissions Remembrance Remembrance Day USS Arizona Memorial Survivors Association Commemorative Medal Books Crisis : The Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor and Southeast Asia ( 1992 ) Day of Deceit ( 2001 ) Days of Infamy series ( 2004 -- 05 ) Pacific War series ( 2007 -- 08 ) Films Secret Agent of Japan ( 1942 ) This Is the Army ( 1943 ) December 7th : The Movie ( 1943 ) Task Force ( 1949 ) From Here to Eternity ( 1953 ) The Revolt of Mamie Stover ( 1956 ) In Harm 's Way ( 1965 ) Tora ! Tora ! Tora ! ( 1970 ) 1941 ( 1979 ) The Final Countdown ( 1980 ) Pearl Harbor ( 2001 ) Other Advance - knowledge conspiracy theory In popular culture Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Infamy_Speech&oldid=849395633 '' Categories : Attack on Pearl Harbor World War II speeches Speeches by Franklin D. Roosevelt 1941 in American politics 1941 speeches American political neologisms American political catchphrases 1941 in international relations Joint sessions of the United States Congress 77th United States Congress December 1941 events Hidden categories : Articles with hAudio microformats Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikisource Català Dansk Español 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 8 July 2018, at 18 : 11 ( UTC ). About Wikipedia

Question: where was the day of infamy speech given
Answer: the US Congress