December 7, 1941. A Date Which Will

In My Inaugural I Laid Down The Simple Proposition That Nobody Is Going To Starve In This Country. It Seems To Me To Be Equally Plain That No Business Which Depends For Existence On Paying Less Than Living Wages To Its Workers Has Any Right To Continue In This Country. By "business" I Mean The Whole Of Commerce As Well As The Whole Of Industry; By Workers I Mean All Workers, The White Collar Class As Well As The Men In Overalls; And By Living Wages I Mean More Than A Bare Subsistence Level - I Mean The Wages Of Decent Living.

Freedom Of Conscience, Of Education, Of Speech, Of Assembly Are Among The Very Fundamentals Of Democracy And All Of Them Would Be Nullified Should Freedom Of The Press Ever Be Successfully Challenged.

Let Us Never Forget That Government Is Ourselves And Not An Alien Power Over Us. The Ultimate Rulers Of Our Democracy Are Not A President And Senators And Congressmen And Government Officials But The Voters Of This Country.

Almighty God: Our Sons, Pride Of Our Nation, This Day Have Set Upon A Mighty Endeavor, A Struggle To Preserve Our Republic, Our Religion, And Our Civilization, And To Set Free A Suffering Humanity.

You'll Have To Learn That Public Life Takes A Lot Of Sweat; But It Doesn't Need To Worry You. You Won't Always Be Right, But You Mustn't Suffer From Being Wrong. That's What Kills People Like Us.