Day of Infamy Speech

WWII is often seen as the United States’ last “just” war because the country entered it in response to an attack on US soil, and later conflicts are usually compared with it in some way. Compare FDR’s address with one given by a president entering or justifying a later conflict, like Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, etc. How have other presidents framed those conflicts in relation to WWII? What techniques do they use to sell the US public on armed intervention?

During WWII, the new medium of radio meant that the public had more immediate information than in previous wars. FDR begins his speech by emphasizing that Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor occurred just the previous day, and he later notes that the attack on Midway Island occurred the very same day on which he is speaking. How does this immediacy inform the tone of FDR’s speech? How does he use it to his rhetorical advantage?

FDR’s “Day of Infamy” speech was an official Congressional address, and therefore more formal than his Fireside Chats. Compare “Day of Infamy” with the Fireside chat he delivered on December 9, titled “On the War with Japan.