US Presidency
1943

The war is going to go on. Coal will be mined no matter what any individual thinks about it. The operation of our factories, our power plants, our railroads will not be stopped. Our munitions must move to our troops. And so, under these circumstances, it is inconceivable that any patriotic miner can choose any course other than going back to work and mining coal. The nation can not afford violence of any kind at the coal mines or in coal towns. I have placed authority for the resumption of coal mining in the hands of a civilian, the Secretary of the Interior. If it becomes necessary to protect any miner who seeks patriotically to go back and work, then that miner must have and his family must have and will have complete and adequate protection.