Day of Infamy Speech

FDR’s “Day of Infamy” speech appeals to his listeners as a united mass of Americans by constructing a clear division between “us,” or citizens of the United States, and “them,” or the Japanese Empire. This appeal to coherent and unified national identity is crucial to his efforts to generate and maintain public support for an ongoing war effort.

In his influential Imagined Communities, Benedict Anderson defines nations as “imagined political [communities]” wherein citizens feel a sense of “communion” with their fellow-members even if they will never “meet them, or even hear of them” (Anderson, Benedict. Imagines Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. Verso, 2006). This sense of communion and of belonging to a common nation is heightened through a shared language, political discourse, and, especially after the advent of national radio broadcasting, a common popular culture. In Anderson’s use, “imagined” makes it clear that national identity is constructed through members of a nation reading and/or listening to the same texts. In the “Day of Infamy” speech, as in his Fireside Chats, FDR seeks to build this “imagined community” by appealing to his listeners’ sense of collective outrage and collective resolve. Though he speaks directly to the US congress, he understands his speech is also being broadcast to the public, who make up a second and equally important audience. When he declares that “the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory” (Paragraph 9) he is asking the American public, together as one unified nation, to think of the coming fight as their own.

A strong national identity is an integral part of most armed conflicts. Few people will willingly risk their lives if they do not believe that they are doing so in their own interests, or the interests of those they feel affection for and communion with. One of FDR’s goals in the speech is to ensure that Americans retain their sense of “imagined community” through the war. To this end, he repeatedly uses plural and inclusive pronouns like “we” and “our” to describe American officials, locations, and interests. He asserts that the events of the prior two days “speak for themselves” and that “the people of the United States have already formed their opinions” (Paragraph 6). In making these claims, he portrays himself not as a leader dictating the nation’s course of action but as a spokesperson voicing the unified opinion of the people. He appeals to the nation’s historically optimistic character when he cites his confidence that “the unbounding determination of our people” (Paragraph 11) will carry them through the coming period of struggle to ultimate victory. He understands he is asking a lot. The declaration of war will mean immediate and sustained sacrifice for Americans—food and supplies will be rationed, whole industries will shift to war manufacturing, and hundreds of thousands of young men will leave to fight, many of them never to return. In describing the resolve that will be needed, FDR notably uses descriptive rather than prescriptive language: He seeks to stir the requisite patriotic determination by claiming that it already exists as an intrinsic part of the national character.