It's a Pathos-Logos Tag TeamFreshly into his third term in office, FDR probably didn't need to worry about spending too much time convincing the public that he was a respectable guy. As a result, t...

Scattered Yet BrainyThe "Four Freedoms" speech is a fairly standard SOTU address, with the notable difference that the president wrote it himself (instead of using a hired speechwriter). This gives...

Direct, Serious, and Conversational Yet Formal, Dry, and Slang-y (but Just a Little)Yeah, that's right. This (very long) speech is a lesson in contrasts. But, hey, FDR could pull it off.Roosevelt h...

Informative, Kind of Long-Winded, Rambling, Evocative While some State of the Union addresses are written by presidential speechwriters, FDR wrote the "Four Freedoms" speech himself—and honestly,...

The official title of this speech is, well, official: "Annual Message to Congress on the State of the Union by Franklin D. Roosevelt." But, because most people fall asleep before reading that whole...

Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, members of the 77th Congress: I address you, the members of the 77th Congress, at a moment unprecedented in the history of the Union. I use the word "unprecedented," bec...

This nation has placed its destiny in the hands and heads and hearts of its millions of free men and women; and its faith in freedom under the guidance of God. Freedom means the supremacy of human...

(6) Tree LineThis is a long speech. Some people might even consider it a bit boring. (What can we say? FDR liked to talk.)But its length isn't why it's tough nor is its ability (or, um, lack thereo...

In-Text ReferencesHistorical and Political ReferencesQuick note: FDR is a master of saying something without actually saying it, so most of these references are implied within the text of the spe...

Though the SOTU report is an annual occurrence, it wasn't until FDR actually called it the "State of the Union" address in 1934 that it was called by that name. Before then, it was known more gener...