US Presidency
1944

Improvement through planning is the order of the day. Even military affairs, things do not stand still. An army or a navy trained and equipped and fighting according to a 1932 model would not have been a safe reliance in 1944. And if we are to progress in our civilization, improvement is necessary in other fields, in the physical things that are a part of our daily lives, and also in the concepts of social justice at home and abroad. I am now at this naval base in the performance of my duties under the Constitution. The war waits for no elections. Decisions must be made, plans must be laid, strategy must be carried out. They do not concern merely a party or a group. They will affect the daily lives of Americans for generations to come. What is the job before us in 1944? First, to win the war to win the war fast, to win it overpoweringly.