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“Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Master Communicator”
During the early morning of Sunday December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked the
Pearl Harbor Naval base in Hawai’i. There were a minimal number of soldiers on duty at
the time, as many offices were closed and soldiers on leave for the weekend. While the
incoming Japanese attack planes were detected, they were mistaken for a group of
American planes that were due to arrive from the mainland. These attacks continued for
just over two hours, and came as a complete and utter surprise to the United States. “The
Navy and Marine Corps suffered a total of 2, 896 casualties of which 2, 117 were deaths and
779 were wounded. The Army lost 228 to death…Altogether the Japanese sank or severely
damaged 18 ships, including 8 battleships, three light cruisers, and three destroyers…the
Japanese destroyed 161 American planes and seriously damaged 102” (Pearl). This attack
was the causal factor to the United States joining World War II.
The day following the Japanese attacks, President Franklin Delanor Roosevelt
addressed Congress, as well as the nation via radio, requesting a declaration of war against
Japan. This request was overwhelmingly approved very shortly after Congress listened to
it. This speech from President Roosevelt illustrates leadership communication in a time of
major crisis and devastation. With the entire nation in sorrow and angry over what had
happened, Roosevelt had to deliver effective rhetoric to aid the nation through this tragic
time. While Secretary of State Cordell Hull urged Roosevelt to thoroughly recite the
Japanese deceit, he decided to deliver a brief, uncomplicated appeal to the United States
people. Although the speech was brief, the significance was enormous. “Congress took only
thirty-three minutes to vote. In the Senate the count was 82-0, in the House, 388-1” (Prange
393). And thus, the retaliation the public was seeking had been initiated. “President
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Roosevelt gave the people that alertness. He transformed indignation and confusion into
purpose with an emotionally charged address. He gave the American people a forceful
expression of conditions, and reminded them of the necessities of defense and ultimate
victory. Even while reporting the situation in specific detail, the President managed to
supply the sense of urgency which had been diminished through shock” (Carson 6).
Roosevelt’s ability to effectively guide a nation struck by tragedy into action serves as an
example still today for the leaders across our country, and on an even greater scale, the
world.
In this paper, I will illustrate how the rhetoric of Roosevelt guided a nation to unite
under an ideology of patriotism during a time of great tragedy. Furthermore, I will explore
how his use of ideographs assisted in his success of uniting the people of our country. I will
analyze the details of the speech known as the Day of Infamy Speech, such as the intended
audience, the exigency that called for this speech, and rhetorical devices used by Roosevelt
within the speech. I will also examine how Roosevelt advances a notion of nationalism and
patriotism through his Day of Infamy Speech, with specific examples from the text that
demonstrate how he created such an ideology.
Rhetorical Effectiveness
One of the reasons why Roosevelt’s speech was so effective was because he had the
support and confidence of the American people. At the time of the speech, Roosevelt was
already in his third term as president, and was in the midst of guiding the nation through
the Great Depression. Up until this time, America under Roosevelt had maintained a
position of neutrality. However, this suddenly changed due to the Japanese attacks on Pearl
Harbor. Roosevelt did precisely what the nation wanted him to do in response to being the
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victim of a deliberate attack, retaliate. His response was more than just a personal
response, but rather more of a collective response of the nation as a whole. His speech was
extremely effective in getting the nation to come together and collectively channel their
response. The importance of this speech on the nation was immeasurable. Had Roosevelt
decided to deliver his speech in an alternative manner, the nation may not have been
unified to the response in the same way. The American people needed to hear the rhetoric
that President Roosevelt delivered to them and truly comprehend how significant of an
event this would be on our nation’s history. He channeled the fears and emotions of the
public into a united plan of retaliation, something the people were desperately searching
for.
When Roosevelt assumed presidency during 1933, the United States was in the
middle of a severe depression that had already been going on for more than three years.
Many Americans were in search of hope during this bleak time, and Roosevelt sought to
deliver that hope. During his Inaugural speech in 1933, he delivered the famous line, ‘…the
only thing we have to fear is fear itself’. During his first term as president, Roosevelt passed
many major legislations in attempt to put an end to the current depression. He was re-
elected during 1936 by a landslide majority. Unlike his first presidential term, he did not
pass nearly as much legislation during his second; and unlike his landslide victory during
1936, the election of 1940 was much closer, as won with a fifty five percent majority vote.
His third term primarily focused on WWII, with the Pearl Harbor attack being the single
most significant event for the United States, as it was the causal factor in the United States
joining the war.
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Many Americans considered Roosevelt more than just a president, but also as a
friend. Americans viewed Roosevelt as a credible person, someone that they could truly
trust their nations decisions to. He delivered what became known as fireside chats to the
nation, which were intended to transform the bad times into good ones. “He communicated
the subtle range of his feelings in a manner that imparted directness and sincerity to his
listeners. FDR talked to, not at, the American people” (Ryan 13). He often initiated these
‘chats’ with “Good evening, friends”. These addresses to the nation urged the American
people to maintain their faith during tough economic times. Roosevelt felt it important that
these messages to the public to be clear and simple. “Franklin Roosevelt was a conscious
stylist. At the heart of his theory of style was an insistence on clarity and simplicity. He
wanted to be ‘clear enough for the layman to understand” (Aoki 71). His capability of
making every listener feel as if he were talking directly to them greatly contributed to the
willingness of the American people to trust and back his decisions.
According to Aoki, Roosevelt uses at least three techniques to ensure his speeches
were clear: easy to understand and open language, including examples and explanations,
and simple organization of the text. He was very persuasive in these speeches, often using
the pronoun ‘we’ or ‘fellow’ to allow his audience to feel engaged and a part of these
addresses. In doing so, Roosevelt allows his listeners to feel a sense of intimacy and make a
connection with him. Aoki goes into other rhetorical techniques used by Roosevelt during
these chats. These techniques used by Roosevelt include “using ‘we’ when making
assertions, embedding his assertions into an objective statement, artful use of adverbs and
adjectives, and applying a subtle change of pace, from using soft language to hard language”
(Aoki 73). Roosevelt was able to successfully reel in his listeners through his change of
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language. He would begin with mild and subtle language and as he proceeded further into
his speeches, he would stronger, more specific language. “FDR rarely sounded or looked
anxious or hurried” (Ryan 21). His outstanding organization allowed for his techniques to
be as successful as they were. These chats gave the public the hope they were searching for
and urged them to have faith and stay positive in the nations journey ahead.
Unity was something in which Roosevelt found to be of the utmost importance. “He
thought of the nation as having many members united into one organism, the health of each
member being dependent on the health of every other member and of the nation as a
whole” (Kingdon, 162). He knew that he needed to unite the nation together once again,
especially considering the circumstances during the time of his presidency. “He saw events
and individuals in terms of their relationships, and these relationships in terms of the
whole – the whole country” (Kingdon 162). His sense of interrelatedness in terms of both
people and events was incredible. He would see the bigger picture and use that vision as
the forefront to guiding the nation together once again. “…Even in times as troubled and
uncertain as these, I still hold faith that a better civilization than any we have known is in
store for America and by our example, perhaps, for the world” (Kingdon 172). No matter
how gloom the situation was, Roosevelt continually kept an eye in the direction he wanted
our nation to gravitate to. His ability to give hope to the American people during tragic
times significantly helped with the significant amount of support he received from his
nation.
A day after what was at the time arguably the most destructive, traumatic event our
country had seen, president Roosevelt addressed the nation. Apparent that everyone had
been blindsided with disaster, the president had the responsibility to address the situation
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accordingly. A solution needed to be implemented in order to alleviate the sense of defeat
and despair that had overcome the nation. His intention of this speech was to urge
Congress to declare war on Japan after the brutal attacks they dealt to Pearl Harbor. He
wanted to convey to the nation that justice would be served and that they would recover
from the tragedy even stronger than they were before. He provided the nation with a sense
of hope and gave them a positive outlook on the future, much like he had done with his
fireside chats. He also needed to show Japan that the people of the United States would not
stand passively and let their country get invaded without retaliating themselves. Roosevelt
also dealt with many constraints when preparing this speech, with one very important one
being time, as it was necessary to address the nation in a timely manner following such
devastation.
The Day of Infamy speech was in part so effective due to its length. The brief
message delivered to the world by the president of the United States was done in an
unprecedented manner. This structure of this speech is informative. It begins with the most
famous line of the speech, which recalls what has occurred to the nation. Roosevelt
proceeds to explain the events leading up to the attack, and ultimately goes into a call for
action.
There are a few points that I would like to address regarding President Roosevelt’s
Day of Infamy Speech. First off, he did not use any speechwriters to construct the speech,
but rather dictated nearly every word of it himself. The only exception to this is the next-to-
last sentence, which he decided to use the phrasing suggested to him by Harry Hopkins,
one of his closest advisors. For the most part, Roosevelt does not offer his personal opinion
regarding the matter, but instead simply detailed the facts of the event, leaving it up to the
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listeners to draw their own conclusions. His speech was intended to draw upon the anger
that the American people were feeling after being betrayed and attacked by Japan, which
had a strong emotional impact with its listeners. As a rhetorician, he does an excellent job
of providing pauses during the speech, making it easy to follow, and adding inflection to
words which he felt to be of more importance. He did an outstanding job of using
foreshadowing in his speech, stating that the American people will come to ‘absolute
victory’. “Franklin Roosevelt’s delivery possessed no characteristics which detracted from
his effectiveness. His voice quality, pitch, speaking rate, and use of loudness all served to
enhance the ideas he was presenting, without calling attention to themselves…Roosevelt’s
excellent voice and his clear, incisive articulation contributed materially to his delivery and
thus to his total effectiveness as a speaker” (Brandenburg 30). Although he may not have
been known for his intelligence, Roosevelt was able to successfully implement his message
through the outstanding usage of these characteristics.
Roosevelt is letting everyone know, including the American listeners as well as the
Japanese, that the United States would fight back and would not be denied. He is making it
known to the world that our nation will not be defeated by these attacks, but rather will
return even stronger, and ultimately win the war against Japan. Lastly, Roosevelt made it
known of the historical importance of this tragic event. Beginning the speech with “A date,
which will live in infamy,” he is explaining that the tragedy of the preceding day will not be
forgotten for the remainder of time. “But always will our whole nation remember the
character of the onslaught against us”. His use of the future tense here gives the listener a
sense of how significant this event will be on our nation’s history. It will go down as a day
of great sorrow and tragedy, but one that ultimately led to the unity of the American people
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under a sense of patriotism and to the end of the Great Depression. Roosevelt’s ability to
unify an entire nation during the midst of a sever tragedy is a direct cause of his simple yet
effective rhetoric. His simple format and clear reasoning, on top of already having the trust
of the American people, ultimately led to our nation coming together as a whole and
declare war against the enemies responsible for the devastating events of December 7,
1941.
Method
The framework that I will be analyzing this speech through is that of ideological
criticism. “In an ideological analysis, the critic looks beyond the surface structure of an
artifact to discover the beliefs, values, and assumptions it suggests” (Foss 209). My primary
goal in this paper is to discover and make visible the ideology that is embedded in this
artifact. As the critic, my analysis “seeks to explicate the role of communication in creating
and sustaining an ideology and to discover whose interests are represented in that
ideology” (Foss 213). I will use the work of three scholars in particular, each key
contributors to ideological criticism, in analyzing the artifact: Sonja Foss, Michael McGee,
and Philip Wander.
Communication scholar Sonja K. Foss provides clear guidelines for understanding
and practicing ideological criticism. “The primary components of an ideology are evaluative
beliefs - beliefs about which there are possible alternative judgments” (Foss 209). Each
ideology “includes a set or pattern of beliefs that evaluates relevant issues and topics for a
group, provides an interpretation of some domain of the world, and encourages particular
attitudes and actions to it” (Foss 210). As I delve deeper into my analysis of the speech, I
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will illustrate how President Roosevelt successfully does this and leads the nation to a
particular attitude and call to action.
Ideological criticism did not come about from a single person or idea. Rather,
numerous scholars with varying backgrounds and perspectives aided in its evolution. “First
introduced by French revolutionaries, ‘ideology’ referred to the critical study of ideas.
Napoleon contrasted ideology with knowledge of the heart and the lessons of history. Marx
appropriated the term and used it to mean the ruling ideas of the ruling class. In the
twentieth century, critical theorists used the term to designate the lack of totality or
completeness in any attempt to generalize” (Wander 1). It is important to keep this in mind
when applying this method.
One of those scholars, Philip Wander, believes that ideological criticism is vital in
determining the motivations of those who generate rhetoric. Another, Michael McGee,
brought about a term known as an “ideograph”. McGee describes an ideograph as a word or
words attached to an ideology, which help build the ideology and fulfill the ideological
meaning. He differentiates this with an ideology in that an ideograph appears within the
text and discourse, whereas an ideology is the interpretation. “The important fact about
ideographs is that they exist in real discourse, functioning clearly and evidently as agents of
political consciousness. They are not invented by observers; they come to be as a part of
the real lives of the people whose motives they articulate” (McGee 7). This passage from
McGee illustrates the situation surrounding the speech following the Pearl Harbor attacks.
Roosevelt is articulating the motives of the American people to Congress, and uses certain
“ideographs” to convey the emotion the entire nation experienced. I will analyze what I feel
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to be the primary ideographs used by Roosevelt in order to guide the nation together under
an ideology in the subsequent section.
Ideological criticism generally consists of a four-step process. First, I will identify
the presented elements used by FDR throughout the speech. I will then identify the
suggested elements and offer my personal interpretation of them. Then, I will formulate the
ideology being advanced by Roosevelt, and lastly identify how those elements serve to
function the way in which they do. Identifying the presented elements “involves identifying
the basic observable features of the artifact. These might be major arguments, types of
evidence, images, particular terms, or metaphors” (Foss 214). When looking at the
suggested elements, “the critic articulates ideas, references, themes, allusions, or concepts
that are suggested by the presented elements” (Foss 216). This involves actually going
through the artifact and generating what the presented elements are suggesting. The third
step, formulating an ideology, involves figuring out “what major ideational clusters, themes,
or ideas characterize all or most of your suggested elements” (Foss 217). It is important to
note that this step involves focusing on the suggested elements rather than the presented
elements. The presented elements may be used for support, however the main focus is
directed toward the suggested elements. The last step, identifying the functions served by
the ideology, involves discovering “how the ideology you constructed from the artifact
functions for the audience who encounters it and the consequence it has in the world”
(Foss 220). The following section illustrates this four-step method.
Application of Method
President Roosevelt’s speech the day following the attacks on Pearl Harbor was only
twenty-five sentences long, less than five hundred words, and lasted under seven minutes,
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according to the Schlager Group. While President Roosevelt was delivering his speech to
Congress, as evident from the greeting of “Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the
Senate, of the House of Representatives,” he also had to take into account that he would be
addressing the entire nation via radio. The vast majority American households were tuned
in to this address. The public at this time was in a state of shock, fear, and despair and in
need of strong, effective rhetoric from the leader of their country. Not only was the
president addressing his nation, he was addressing the world. This speech also had
intentions of making it known to the Japanese that there would be consequences for their
actions. In addressing the entire world, Roosevelt made it known to everyone the United
States new stance regarding the war.
Throughout this speech, Roosevelt uses the pronouns ‘our’ and ‘us’, giving the
American people the sense that they are included in these decisions. These words help
unite the American people and give them a sense of cohesiveness. “No matter how long it
may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their
righteous might, will win through to absolute victory” (Roosevelt 1). The president does an
outstanding job of creating this sense of cohesiveness among the American people with his
use of plural pronouns, making the public feel amalgamated as a country. By choosing to
begin with the phrase “Yesterday, December 7, 1941”, Roosevelt is addressing the
immediate historical past. “This placement of yesterday contributes to the overall past-
present-future structure of the address and to the connotative values of ‘time’ in it”
(Stelzner 423). Roosevelt is establishing the date so that it will never be forgotten.
“Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our
interests are in grave danger. With confidence in our armed forces-with the unbounding
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determination of our People- we will gain the inevitable triumph…” (Roosevelt 2). On top of
doing an excellent job of instilling a unified front, Roosevelt also used rhetoric to urge
Congress into voting to go to war with Japan. The way in which he pointed out that the
citizens, territory, and interests of the American people are in grave danger puts Congress
in a position to do whatever it can to make sure that the American people are not in grave
danger, which in this situation means retaliating against the Japanese.
It was important that Roosevelt illustrate the violence and destruction that Japan
has caused. He used words such as ‘deliberately’, ‘onslaught’, and ‘deceive’, demonstrating
that Japan had intentionally planned such violence and that their intent was to betray the
United States. “Roosevelt pointed out, the nature of the attack and the distance of the
targets from Japanese bases made it apparent that the operation had been planned ‘days or
even weeks ago.’ Thus, we were reminded that the enemy was not merely guilty of
temporary insanity but was indeed guilty of premeditated murder” (Carson 6). Those
ideographs – deliberately and deceive – along with others, such as “date” and “infamy”,
evoke a feeling of betrayal among the audience. They illustrate that this attack was
premeditated and came with the intentions to deceive the United States. By evoking such
emotions, Roosevelt is guiding his audience toward feeling a sense of ideology.
These ideographs, however, have different meanings when looking at the
synchronic relationships and diachronic structure. The diachronic structure pertains to
how it is assessed over time throughout history, whereas synchronic refers to how it was at
that given particular time. The diachronic structure of the ideographs used in the speech
does not seem to change very much historically over time. Even today, when looking back
on the tragedy of December 7, 1941, people can truly experience the emotion that these
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ideographs evoke. It was such a historic event, that people understand why Roosevelt
chose to use the words “date” and “infamy”. To this day, the attacks on Pearl Harbor
remains one of the most tragic incidents in our nations’ history. Even though people today
can sense the tone and intensity of the speech, it is not the same as listening to the speech
would be after experiencing a tragedy such as the attacks on Pearl Harbor. The synchronic
relationship of these ideographs are actually quite similar to how they are viewed
throughout history, just a little more penetrating . These words aroused such raw emotion
out of people at that time and assisted in their sense of patriotism. Learning that another
country had intentionally attacked your own roused the feeling of wanting to stand up for
your country and express your loyalty and honor to it. “An ideograph is an ordinary
language term found in political discourse. It is a high-order abstraction representing
collective commitment to a particular normative goal” (McGee 15). This passage by McGee
summarizes perfectly this situation. Certain words used by Roosevelt represented what
most every American citizen felt at that time. They evoked the proper emotion that people
were already feeling and expressed the collective goal of the American people; to stand up
and fight back.
Roosevelt uses anaphora in the middle of his speech, as he begins each sentence of
listing the Japanese attacks by stating ‘the Japanese attacked’. He repeats this phrase six
times:
“Yesterday, the Japanese Government also launched an attack against Malaysia.
Last night Japanese forced attacked Hong Kong. Last night Japanese forces
attacked Guam. Last night Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands. Last
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night Japanese forces attacked Wake Island. And this morning the Japanese
attacked Midway Island” (Roosevelt 1).
By doing this, he is really driving home the feeling of betrayal and deception that the
American people feel due to being the victim of such brutal, strategic attacks. “The lengthy
iteration is necessary to establish the magnitude of the Japanese thrust” (Stelzner 429). By
listing each individual attack, Roosevelt is really stressing the deception from the Japanese.
He is really trying to portray the Japanese as the villain, and use that vilification of the
enemy to assist in the unity of the American people. The listener cannot help but take note
of each attack, fueling the feeling of betrayal. Roosevelt’s ability to gather the nation to
come together and stand up to a common enemy, in this case being the Japanese
government, allows his listeners to share a common, unified enemy. They know exactly
who has betrayed them and the extent of that betrayal. He also made subtle yet effective
changes to his speech. By changing the word ‘attacks’ to ‘attack’, making it singular, he
gives the American audience a sense of relief that there will not be any future attacks. His
ability to make subtle yet dramatic changes in his rhetoric is part of the reason why
Franklin Roosevelt is one of the most effective rhetoricians of all time.
There are numerous amounts of suggested elements present in this speech. The first
comes from the well-known title of this speech. President Roosevelt suggests to the entire
country that the preceding day’s attacks on Pearl Harbor will live in infamy. Although the
nation was well aware of the catastrophe that has happened, the president suggests that it
will go down in history as one of the most severe and brutal attacks on our country. By
suggesting that this event will be remembered as one of the most severe attacks on our
nation, Roosevelt is able to really dive home the severity of the situation and give the
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people of that time a feeling of being the victim of one of the most brutal tragedies ever.
The sense of astonishment that one would feel taking that in is something that I can relate
to having lived through another one of the most horrific tragedies in the history of our
nation, the World Trade Center attacks. Feeling victim to one of the most brutal attacks in
history not only invokes a sense of disbelief, but even more so, beseeches a sense of
unification in wanting to do whatever possible to help a fellow citizen. During a time of
such immense tragedy, only the truly important things takes precedent. Everything else
that may have been happening in your life takes second stage to the extreme calamity of
ones country.
The next suggested element from this speech that I would like to address is when
Roosevelt suggests that the Japanese attacks were premeditated. “It will be recorded that
the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately
planned many days or even weeks ago” (Roosevelt 1). President Roosevelt is making it
known to the entire nation that the United States Government had zero foresight of such
occurrences and could have done nothing to prevent its occurrence. He suggests to the
people that the Japanese had these attacks planned well in advance with intent on sending
a message to the American people. This also instills a sense of victimization among the
American people. They were the destined prey of a malicious attack. Feeling victim to such
immense catastrophe additionally fuels a sense of retaliation toward your attacker.
“As Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, I have directed that all measures be
taken in our defense” (Roosevelt 1). Here the president is suggesting that he has already
taken measures to ensure the safety of the American people. As the nation would find out
not long after, our country had decided to retaliate against the Japanese and enter into
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World War II. Following this, he suggests again that such a devastating event to our nation
will always be remembered and never forgotten. Multiple times throughout this speech
Roosevelt lets it be known that these events will go down in history as one of the most
sever attacks on the United States of America. He really wants to stress to the American
public the severity of these attacks and how our nation must respond accordingly.
When Roosevelt says that he will “make it very certain that this form of treachery
shall never again endanger us” (Roosevelt 1), he is suggesting to the people that our
government and armed forces are doing everything within their power to protect and keep
us safe from such devastating events. He is doing everything possible to help put the minds
of the public at ease during a time of great fear and anxiety and assure them that they will
not be subject to such desolation in the future. The American people are desperately
looking for their leader to give them assurance that they will not be victim to such
devastation again, and Roosevelt instills such confidence through his carefully deliberated
use of rhetoric.
At this point, it is starting to become evident that President Roosevelt is expressing
the emotions felt by the American people and trying to unite the country together under an
ideology of patriotism. Through his repetition of the magnitude of devastation to his
suggestions that our country will do whatever necessary to defend ourselves from such
devastation in the future, Roosevelt is trying to guide the public to gather as one and stand
up for our beliefs. No matter the age, race, or ethnicity, Roosevelt’s speech aims to bring
together the American people to stand up for their beliefs and for being a citizen the United
States of America. Franklin D. Roosevelt was very successful in doing this, partly due to his
relationship with the American people. Through his fireside chats, Roosevelt had initiated a
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sense of friendliness amongst his listeners, allowing them to feel a sense of connection with
their president. His simple and clear use of language and organization made it possible for
his listeners to comprehend his message. These factors already gave him a sense of
connection with his audience. The way in which he illustrated that the Japanese attacks
were deliberate and planned out gave his listeners a feeling of being violated and betrayed.
Knowing that the majority of listeners would already naturally feel a sense of patriotism
during a time of extreme devastation to one’s country, Roosevelt used that to further
enhance that feeling. Numerous times, he mentions how our nation will be triumphant and
win through to absolute victory, instilling in his audience a sense that they will get through
this difficult time.
It was relatively easy for Roosevelt to instill this ideology into the entire nation due
to the fact that the devastation of the previous day had everyone in a state of shock and
fear, searching for someone and something to guide them through it. President Roosevelt
was that person and patriotism was that something. People were empowered by his
address and they felt that there is no better country than our own and were encouraged to
do whatever possible for one another in order to help our country endure the tragedy. On
top of the unique situation, Roosevelt’s outstanding ability to be able to connect with his
audience on an intimate level allowed for his message to be easily and widely accepted by
all. When the people have the ultimate trust and faith in their leader, such as they did in
President Roosevelt, they are much more willing to follow in their decisions, especially
during a time of great desolation. They were encouraged to adopt his position on this issue
because it represented the position of the vast majority of the country. It was not as if his
position represented a marginalized group, with a majority dissent. After being brutally
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blindsided by devastating attacks, the country felt the same way as Roosevelt when he
asked Congress to declare war. They gathered behind their leader and assumed the posture
of having to fight for their themselves, their freedom, and their safety.
Conclusion
The attack on Pearl Harbor, as Roosevelt predicted, is still to this day one of the
most devastating attacks on our country. Many great men and women lost their lives when
the Japanese surprise attacked the United States. President Roosevelt helped unite and
guide a nation under an ideology of patriotism through his Day of Infamy address to both
Congress and the entire country. Roosevelt had already earned the trust and faith of the
American people, as he was in his third term as president. His fireside chats allowed for his
listeners to connect with him on a regular basis. His simple to understand language allowed
the common folk to be able to connect with him as a human being and really get the sense
that he was one of them. Roosevelt’s ability to be able to gather a nation together in this
time was remarkable, almost as if there was no difficulty to it whatsoever.
The analysis of the speech illustrates how Roosevelt’s rhetoric successfully allowed
for his audience to connect with and engage in his message. His simple organization and
language use along with incorporating concrete examples made his message effective and
easy to comprehend. His use of plural pronouns such as ‘our’ and ‘we’ give his audience a
sense of unity with himself, allowing for a more intimate relationship and deeper sense of
trust. His pausing and inflection gave certain words and phrases more importance. The
change of pace from soft to hand language use would effectively reel in his listener before
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using stronger, more persuasive language to drive home his main message. His use of
certain words or “ideographs” accurately represented the emotion and collective goal of
the American people at that time.
This speech serves as a prime example of how a rhetorician can effectively guide an
audience in a direction under an ideology. Granted, he was already in a position of power as
the President of the United States, but nonetheless his ability to successfully connect with
the American people and help unite and lead them through such a devastating time is an
outstanding illustration of a leader effectively leading his people. Roosevelt was a very
successful leader of our country and did whatever he felt to be in the best interest of
everyone as a whole. With the vast majority of Americans already favorable to him after
what he had already accomplished during his first two terms as President of the United
States, Roosevelt was aware that he would have the support of his people. However, he still
had to make a statement that would both incorporate the feelings and emotions of the
nation as well as employ the proper call to action. He made it known to the entire world
that the United States would not sit back and let premeditated attacks, such as those on
Pearl Harbor, happen without letting the attacker know one thing: we will fight for our
rights and what we believe in and not cower in the face of immense tragedy.
As one of the greatest, most influential presidents our country has even seen,
Franklin Roosevelt possessed the uncanny ability to be able to successfully connect with
audiences on an intimate level. Arguably his most famous and important and influential
speech was the one the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was able to unite a nation
that had been heavily damaged by traumatic events under an ideology of patriotism. At a
time of shock and despair, he successfully channeled their fearful emotions into ones of
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pride, blessed to be able to live in such a great country. Roosevelt’s leadership and rhetoric
are a phenomenal example to anyone with intentions on being able to persuade and guide
an audience in a particular direction. In my scholarly opinion, Franklin Delano Roosevelt is
one of the greatest rhetoricians to have ever lived, and due to his rhetorical talents, was
able to lead a country through one of the most devastating periods in its history.
Gunderson 21
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