PathosWhen we first read this speech, we might be inclined to think it's maybe kind of ethos-y. Right off the bat, it starts out with all these official-sounding titles and addresses, and the U.S....

SpeechSpeeches are as much about the words that are spoken as they are about the person speaking them and the context within which they're said. In the case of FDR's Pearl Harbor speech, the contex...

DisillusionmentWanna know what the first thing we think of is when we hear ska-pop-rock-etc. band No Doubt's 1995 hit "Sunday Morning?" That's right: the attack on Pearl Harbor. (And yes, we listen...

TerseThey say that up to 90% of communication is nonverbal: stuff like body language, tone of voice, vocal volume, et cetera. But we don't need the nonverbal stuff to pick up what FDR is laying dow...

"Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation"Know what doesn't have enough oomph to really describe President Roosevelt's speech on December 8th, 1941? Its title.Seriously, "Pearl Harbor Address to the Nati...

Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Senate, and of the House of Representatives:Yesterday, December 7th, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was sudde...

Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger.With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of o...

(2) Sea LevelShort, sweet, and to-the-point, this speech by FDR to Congress after Japan's sneak attack on Pearl Harbor both tastes great and is less filling. In twenty-six skimmable sentences, we f...

In-Text ReferencesHistorical and Political References77th United States Congress (1, 22, 26)Geographical ReferencesUnited States (1, 2, 3, 6, 18, 26)Japan (1, 2, 5, 16, 26)Pacific region (2, 16)Oah...

FDR was POTUS for more than twelve years, a feat that is no longer constitutionally possible. (Source)General Douglas MacArthur was famous for sporting aviators and a corn cob pipe. So famous, in f...