Day of Infamy Speech

FDR’s speech is short and direct, combining persuasive rhetoric, nationalist arguments, and emotional appeals to convince his audience that the time has come for the United States to declare war on Japan. Even though he hoped Congress would declare war on the other Axis powers as well, FDR restricted himself to Japan—the country that had actually attacked the US—for the sake of clarity and to maximize the perceived moral authority of his speech. In a speech that lasts less than 10 minutes, he constructs a rhetorical arc that begins with Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor and concludes with a call for the United States to enter a long and costly international war with an uncertain outcome. He does this in part by framing that outcome as certain. Portraying the War as a Fight Between Good and Evil, FDR twice asserts that America’s ultimate victory, however much it costs in lives and dollars, is inevitable. Before formally asking Congress for a declaration of war, he concludes his speech on a prophetic note: “With confidence in our armed forces and with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph—so help us God” (Paragraph 11). This absolute confidence is a key part of FDR’s appeal to the American public. At a moment when many Americans were feeling great uncertainty and fear, FDR projects unshakeable certainty not only in the moral rightness of entering the war, but also (and consequently) in the outcome.

FDR frames his request for Congress to declare war on Japan in a brief, concisely worded speech. Advisors like Secretary of State Cordell Hull counseled him to speak more pointedly about Japan’s actions before and after attacking Pearl Harbor, but FDR saved most of those details for the Fireside Chat he delivered the next evening. In his speech to Congress, FDR sticks to a barebones outline of the attacks themselves. Instead of detailing the number of lives lost and ships destroyed, he chooses to emphasize the wide-ranging territory that Japanese forces have hit, including European and US strongholds throughout Asia and the Pacific. He underscores the array of Japanese targets through anaphora and repetition, introducing each target with the repeated phrase, “Last night Japanese forces attacked” (Paragraph 5). This repeated phrase drives home not only the scope of the attack but also, most importantly, for FDR’s overall rhetorical objectives, the sense that Japan is a hostile and aggressive power. Throughout the speech, he focuses on distilling and asserting one central argument: Japan launched an unprovoked attack on United States, its government lied about its intentions and thus cannot be trusted, and therefore the United States is at war.

In addition to casting the war in starkly moralistic terms, FDR seeks to instill in the American public a strong sense of Patriotism and National Identity. In a telling sleight of hand, he says, “I believe I interpret the will of Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us” (Paragraph 9). The purpose of the speech is to persuade Congress and the American people, yet rather than solicit their agreement, FDR claims to be simply interpreting the opinions and desires they already hold. At several other points in the speech—most notably in the prophetic final declaration that “we will gain the inevitable triumph—so help us God” (Paragraph 11)—he casts himself as the voice of the nation, thus embodying the fiction of a unified nation that speaks in a singular voice. That voice speaks in a tone of courage, conviction, and moral self-assurance—qualities FDR wanted his audience to see as intrinsic to their national character.

Because the speech was intended to be read to Congress and, via radio, to the American people, FDR uses simple words. However, because this was a more official speech than his comparatively informal Fireside Chats, he addresses himself in a more formal and less conversational manner. His descriptions of the attacks are brief for three reasons: First, Congress has already been briefed on the attacks and presumably does not need to hear the details again. Second, his lack of detail allows listeners at home to fill in the terrible details based on news coverage and their own frightened imaginations. This technique aims to draw them in and ensure that they remain invested in his message. Finally, FDR has to tread a fine line between positioning the US as a victim of the Japanese and boosting public morale and fighting spirit by framing the US military as an indomitable fighting force. Listing the totality of US losses (2403 personnel and 19 ships) risked depressing his audience and making them unwilling to lose more lives in an all-out war. Instead, FDR emphasizes that the attack was “sudden” and deceptive, thereby implying the US military was merely blindsided, not weak or incapable.

FDR’s “Day of Infamy” speech, along with the messaging around it, was brief but effective. At just 518 words, “Day of Infamy” is far shorter than UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s 3766-word “We Shall Fight Them on the Beaches” address, which Churchill delivered to the UK Parliament after the British Fleet withdrew from Continental Europe in the summer of 1940.