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| FDR giving the Quarantine speech in Chicago, 1937 |
In 1937, that person was FDR. Just six months earlier he had begun his second term as president riding high on the mandate of a landslide victory, feeling like the American people had given him permission to do whatever he thought was necessary to end the Depression. But then the Recession of 1937-1938 began, and this turned public opinion against the New Deal. FDR’s attempt to change the Supreme Court had been rejected by Congress and the public and had cost FDR a lot of his popularity and the public’s trust. Any other president in his situation might have chosen to "lie low," or stay out of the public eye until things settled down.
When FDR went to Chicago on October 5, 1937, to speak at the dedication ceremony for a new bridge, it seemed as though he was doing just that--lying low, performing a boring presidential duty that no one would notice, let alone get upset about. But he wasn’t. Instead, he was about to make a bold foreign policy statement known now as the Quarantine speech. Read FDR's Quarantine speech and answer the questions.
How does FDR transition from talking about the new bridge to talking about trouble in foreign nations?
What transition does FDR make here, and what is its effect?
What metaphor does FDR use here?
What is FDR's main message here?
| Your Responses | Sample Answers |
|---|---|
| FDR transitions from talking about the new bridge to talking about trouble in foreign nations by talking about the bridge as an important project, just like the farms and factories and railroads of America are important because they are signs of American peace and prosperity. These signs of peace, FDR says, are very different from the scenes in nations that are currently at war. | |
| FDR makes a transition once again from the happy wealth and peace of America to the "world lawlessness" spreading through other nations. The effect of this transition is once again to force Americans to look beyond their own situation to see what is happening in the outside world and to think about the threat it might pose to the wealth and peace of America itself. | |
| FDR uses the metaphor of epidemic disease to represent war. War is like an infectious disease that spreads from one nation to another. Aggressive nations that are carrying war to other nations by invading them are like sick patients who have to be quarantined, or kept separate from everyone else, to stop the disease of war from spreading. | |
| FDR's main message here is that America must try hard to avoid war, but Americans must realize this may not be possible ("we cannot insure ourselves against the disastrous effects of war"). But America will try to the last minute to work for peace and avoid war. |
I am glad to come once again to Chicago and especially to have the opportunity of taking part in the dedication of this important project… On my trip across the continent [where I] have seen with my own eyes the prosperous farms, the thriving factories and the busy railroads, [and] the happiness and security and peace which covers our wide land, almost inevitably I have been compelled to contrast our peace with very different scenes being enacted in other parts of the world.
...How happy we are that [we can] put our money into bridges and boulevards, dams and reforestation, the conservation of our soil and many other kinds of useful works rather than into huge standing armies and vast supplies of implements of war. I am compelled and you are compelled, nevertheless, to look ahead. It seems to be unfortunately true that the epidemic of world lawlessness is spreading.
When an epidemic of physical disease starts to spread, the community approves and joins in a quarantine of the patients in order to protect the health of the community against the spread of the disease.
It is my determination to pursue a policy of peace. It is my determination to adopt every practical measure to avoid involvement in war. [But] war is a contagion, whether it be declared or undeclared. It can engulf states and peoples remote from the original scene of hostilities. We are determined to keep out of war, yet we cannot insure ourselves against the disastrous effects of war and the dangers of involvement. We are adopting such measures as will minimize our risk of involvement, but we cannot have complete protection in a world of disorder in which confidence and security have broken down.
...America hates war. America hopes for peace. Therefore, America actively engages in the search for peace.
In one way, the Quarantine speech was very vague. Who were the nations that had to be quarantined to stop them from spreading war? What did "quarantine" mean in this context? How do you "quarantine" a nation?
But listeners in 1937 knew what FDR meant. They knew he was talking about the nations in Europe and Asia that seemed to be on the brink of war. And they believed that by "quarantine" the President meant to place economic and political pressure on those nations to stop their aggressive acts. Europe and Asia were still stuck in the Depression, and if the U.S. decided not to trade with them anymore, it would be disastrous for those nations.
Question
FDR deliberately kept his speech vague. He told one man, “I am not going to do anything which would require a definite response or action on the part of anybody.” Why do you think that was?
