

“Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in Oahu, the Japanese Ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to the Secretary of State of form reply to a recent American message.
He outlines the deception by the Japanese Government: “The United States was at peace with that nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its government and its emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific.” As FDR continues you can begin to hear his indignation as he begins talking about Japan: It is important to listen to the intonation in President Roosevelt’s voice during the Day of Infamy Speech.

FDR’s Day of infamy speech had to relieve confusion and motivate Americans. There was so little hard information that the public was coming to their own conclusions. They reported that the Philippines had not been bombed. On Sunday evening, it was reported in Washington DC that the Japanese sent in a third wave of attack. Information was not as immediately or widely available. Information AvailableĪs we have mentioned elsewhere on this site, it is important to look at the speech from the perspective of the time. This is much like knowing “Four scores and seven years ago, our forefathers. “Yesterday, December 7th, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by the naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.” It is second only to President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s “Day of Infamy Speech” is one of the most famous speeches by a US president. President Roosevelt Delivers the Day of Infamy Speech to Congress
