Day of Infamy Speech

While the term “American Exceptionalism” was first used by members of the Communist Party USA to criticize capitalism during the Great Depression, the phrase was quickly adopted as a form of praise by more mainstream US politicians. Indeed, the belief that the United States is more democratic and more virtuous than other nations and therefore should direct world affairs is nothing new. It pervades FDR’s “Day of Infamy” address, as well as his later efforts to establish the United States as an integral part of the post-war international governing body in the form of the United Nations. Scholars have argued that the United States’ democratic institutions do make it exceptional, but ideas about American exceptionalism have also fueled its colonial tendencies. The United States’ westward expansion across North America and its later annexation of Hawaii and other imperial acquisitions were justified in part through the conviction that it was white Americans’ right—and even duty—to conquer new lands, use their resources, and civilize “savage” peoples.