Franklin D. Roosevelt

Yesterday, December 7, 1941 — a date which will live in infamy — the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

Throughout the nation, opportunity was limited by monopoly. Individual initiative was crushed in the cogs of a great machine. The field open for free business was more and more restricted.

The country needs and, unless I mistake its temper, the country demands bold, persistent experimentation.

I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people.

Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.

The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.

Throughout the world, change is the order of the day.

Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.