US Presidency
1942

We did not count in vain. But have not those men a right to be counting on us? How are we playing our part back home in winning this war? The answer is that we are not doing enough. Today I sent a message to the Congress, pointing out the overwhelming urgency of the serious domestic economic crisis with which we are threatened. Some call it inflation, which is a vague sort of term, and others call it a rise in the cost of living, which is much more easily understood by most families. That phrase, the cost of living, means essentially what a dollar can buy. From January 1, 1941, to May of this year, nearly a year and a half, the cost of living went up about 15 %. And at that point last May we undertook to freeze the cost of living.