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, you can kind of tell.

He's Just Sayin'

The writing style and the tone of this speech are very closely related. The conversational quality of FDR's fireside chats gets a formal makeover here with only the occasional colloquialism, but his approach remains the same—free and easy. This is what makes the speech seem conversational, despite its formal context.

Notice how FDR addresses a topic and then moves on to another topic, only to return to the first one in a later section—almost like he remembered he wasn't totally finished talking about it?

One example of this is when he talks about sacrifice, which he first brings up here:

We must all prepare to make the sacrifices that the emergency—almost as serious as war itself—demands. (104)

Though this is an important point, he addresses it so briefly that if you sneezed, you'd miss it. It's not until after several paragraphs about topics such as cooperation, leadership, morale, and satisfaction (just to name a few) that FDR makes his twisty way back to sacrifice:

I have called for personal sacrifice. I am assured of the willingness of almost all Americans to respond to that call. (131-132)

And then, boom–the truth comes out:

A part of the sacrifice means the payment of more money in taxes. (133)

Don't sugarcoat it, Frank.

Maybe this was a long con on FDR's part…or maybe he just needed an editor.

A Delicate Touch

Another characteristic of the "Four Freedoms" speech is FDR's regular use of subtle historical allusions to develop his arguments. And sometimes those allusions are really subtle, veering into euphemism territory.

For example, "quicklime in the ditch" (147) is about the Nazis' monstrous use of mass graves. The "four-year War Between the States" (5) is about the Civil War. Both of these examples require a familiarity with the events they describe to know what FDR is talking about. In the first example, it's the Nazi genocides of World War II, and in the second, it's the duration of the Civil War. In the case of the Nazi genocides, FDR's language is especially careful.

Since he was speaking on the radio, it's likely he used both euphemism and allusion in consideration of his diverse audience. Even though "Four Freedoms" is a State of the Union address, he's talking to the American people as well as Congress, so his rhetoric has to be inviting to all listeners.