President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Ambitious Agenda

While there has long been debates over “why” America went to war and in fact, “how” we were dragged into it, without question the impact it had on America would be felt for generations.  With those words, spoken by President Roosevelt, America began to look at itself in a new light and the discrimination and inequality that had been at the center of political and economic agendas soon became a topic of worldly discussion. 

FDR’s intentions may indeed have been to remain neutral, as demonstrated by policies such as the Lend-Lease policy and “cash and carry.”  Clearly, to place America’s sons and daughters in another world war would be a difficult maneuver to say the lease, but with Japan threatening the United States western seaboard and Germany maneuvering to threaten our eastern seaboard, America’s involvement became a virtual necessity overnight.  The immediate result of America’s interaction produced a wave of “civil rights” that washed over America like a Japanese tsunami. 

As the United States entered WWII, the American people began to see themselves in a different light.  With FDR taking a global position and representing America’s power, he was forced to recognize that in order for us to condemn others we must also look at ourselves and make adjustments.  If America was to truly lead the world, it must lead by example.  In his 1944 State of the Union address, FDR stated, “We can not be content, no matter how high… [the] general standard of living may be, if some fraction of our people – whether it be one-third or one-fifth or one-tenth – is ill-fed, ill-clothed, ill-housed, and insecure…” (A History of Human Rights in the United States, p. 109).  This address, which outlined FDR’s “Four Freedoms” and declaration of universal human rights, became the foundation on which America’s civil rights would be based and judged by the rest of the world.

Although the “Four Freedoms” (Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want and Freedom from Fear) would ultimately evolve into a much more diverse set of principles, they provided the blueprints for a maturing America to advance in its own acceptance of all men and women.  “America can not be content with mere survival,” said FDR in his State of the Union address, “the best interests of each nation, large and small, demand that all freedom-loving Nations shall join together in a just and durable system of peace… and can be summed up in one word, Security.” (FDR’s 1944 State of the Union Address).