Chapter 34 Roosevelt's "Fireside Chat"

In Roosevelt Square in Washington, we can see such a statue: a commoner in ordinary clothes, sitting in a corner of the room, with his head sideways, listening to something intently. It turned out that he was listening to Roosevelt's "fireside chat". "Fireside chats" were Roosevelt's radio method to connect with the masses after he was elected president. On March 12, 1933, the eighth day after Roosevelt took office as president, he was interviewed by ABC, CBS and CBS in front of the fireplace in the reception room for foreign guests downstairs of the Presidential Palace. loudspeaker.The president said: I hope this speech will be more cordial and free from all the ostentation in official circles, just like sitting in your own home and talking casually.Harry Butcher, manager of CBS's Washington office, said: In that case, let's call it "Fireside Chat", so it was named.During his 12-year presidency, Roosevelt had a total of 30 "fireside chats". Whenever the United States faced major events, the president used this method to communicate with the American people.Nowhere was this approach more prominent than in Roosevelt's vigorous push for the first New Deal.

In November 1940, amidst the symphony of swords and guns and the roar of cannons, another major event that determined the fate of the world emerged before us.The United States holds a presidential election on November 5.Despite the fiercely contested quadrennial elections, and despite the major differences between the two major parties on domestic issues, leaders of both parties, Republican and Democratic, take this "noble cause" very seriously . On November 2, Mr. Roosevelt said in Cleveland: "Our policy is to provide all possible material assistance to those countries that are still resisting aggression across the Atlantic and Pacific." Mr. Birkey declared at Madison Square Garden: "All of us—Republicans, Democrats and Independents—are in favor of supporting the heroic British people. We must supply them with the products of our country's industry." No new ones came to power No one can possess or acquire Roosevelt's knowledge and experience in a short period of time, and no one has his commanding ability.He came to an extraordinary decision from silent meditation.The problem with the president is definitely not that he doesn't know what he should be doing.His problem: how to get his country to follow him, how to convince Congress to follow his lead.

The president, who returned from the Caribbean on Dec. 16, outlined his plans at a press conference the following day.He gave a simple example: "Suppose my neighbor's house is on fire, and I have a garden hose four or five hundred feet away. If he can connect my garden hose to his I can help him put out the fire by running the water on the spigot. So how do I do it? I don't start by saying, 'Neighbor, my garden hose cost fifteen dollars; you'll have to pay me ten Five dollars to buy it.' How about this thing? I don't want fifteen dollars--I want the garden hose back after the fire is out. Good! If the fire is put out and the hose is intact and undamaged, neighbor I am very thankful for giving it back to me." "In other words, if you loan out a certain amount of munitions and get it back after the war, if the munitions are in good condition--undamaged--you don't lose money. ; if they are damaged, or worn out, or lost altogether, and if the person you lent them still pays for it, in my opinion, you have not suffered.” This simple and easy to understand statement surprised everyone. , Those who supported Roosevelt praised it after hearing it, thinking it was a brilliant move; the isolationists were dumbfounded and full of suspicion.Vandenberg, who once said he would bid farewell to isolationism but actually still embraced isolationism tightly and could not bear to let go, murmured, "Lending out a weapon is like giving out chewing gum. You never want to take it back!"

On December 30, 1940, the president delivered a "fireside chat" on the radio, exhorting his countrymen to embrace his policies.In this speech, Roosevelt, uncharacteristically, scolded those who advocated appeasement and criticized the Nazis by name.He said: "We cannot avoid danger or be afraid of danger by shrinking into bed and sleeping with our heads covered. Any attempt to negotiate peace is extremely stupid." "A country that wants to make peace with the Nazis It can only be at the price of total surrender." Roosevelt further pointed out, "This kind of peace dominated by people is by no means peace. It can only be another truce, which will lead to the largest arms race in history. A destructive trade war." "All of us in North and South America may have to live at the barrel of a Nazi gun - a gun loaded with explosive bullets, not only military bullets but also economic bullets ’” This was Roosevelt’s firm belief, and this was the essence of all his wartime policies.

He said: "Tonight, in the face of a world crisis, I think back to a night in a domestic crisis eight years ago. At that time, the wheels of American industry were coming to a screeching halt, and the entire banking system of our country Has ceased activity. I distinctly remember sitting in the study of the White House, about to address the people of the United States, and I saw before my eyes the image of all Americans listening to me. I saw workers in factories and mines, behind counters salesgirls, shopkeepers, farmers plowing, widows, and old men worrying about their life savings. I tried to explain to the broad masses of the American people what the banking crisis meant to their everyday lives." "Tonight, at As America faces this new crisis, I still want to explain to the broad masses of the American people what this crisis means for their daily lives."

Roosevelt noted, "Never since Jamestown and Plymouth Rock until now has our American civilization been in such danger. For, on September 27, 1940, three great powers—two European and one Asian— An agreement was signed in Berlin to unite and threaten that if the United States of America intervenes or thwarts their plans for expansion—plans for world domination—they will unite for final action against the United States.” The President said: “Because The nature of this undeniable menace is such that we may reasonably assert with certainty that the United States has no right, nor reason, to encourage talk of peace, unless the day comes when the aggressor side expresses clearly its intention to renounce all thought of world conquest or domination." The experience of the past two years has proved beyond doubt that no country can tolerate Nazis. No one can tame a tiger into a kitten by petting it. Cruelty cannot be tolerated. Molotov cocktails cannot be reasoned with. We Know that a country can only have peace with the Nazis at the price of complete surrender." Roosevelt further emphasized.

The president has sharply criticized domestic isolationism.He said: "America's pacifiers ignored the warnings offered by the fate of Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Norway, Belgium, Holland, Denmark and France. They tell you that the Axis powers were going to win anyway; the world could have Avoid this bloodshed; the United States might as well exert its influence to promote an enforced peace, to get the best we can get. They call this a 'negotiated peace', utter nonsense! If a gang of desperadoes Surrounding your settlements, threatening to kill you all, and forcing you to pay money and goods in exchange for death, is this a negotiated peace?!" "Considering today and tomorrow, I declare directly to the American people," Roosevelt said "If we now do everything we can to support countries that defend themselves against Axis attack, or if we acquiesce in their defeat and submit docilely to Axis victory and wait to be beaten ourselves in another war later, compared to the previous In one case the United States is much less likely to be involved in a war." Therefore, the President called on the factory owners, managers and workers, and the government clerks, to put every power into production hastily and sparingly. on these arms. "We must be the great arsenal of our democracy. For us this is an emergency as serious as war itself. We must commit ourselves to our cause with the same determination, the same sense of urgency, the same patriotism and sacrifice. mission, as if we were in a war."

As President of the United States, Roosevelt called on the nation to this endeavour.He said: "I send this call on behalf of the nation we love and are proud of and have served with honor and pride. I send this call to our people with the absolute confidence that our common cause will triumph .” As war and munitions production intensified, many of the New Deal's problems began to be resolved.Factories no longer worry about underemployment, and employment is no longer an explosive issue.The entire American industry has actually transitioned to an "arsenal".The attention of Roosevelt and his administration had shifted from domestic problems to international affairs.He later said at a press conference that the "New Deal Doctor" used a special prescription to heal the state of severe internal disorder.When it recovered, the patient was hit by a bad accident—Pearl Harbor—and there was nothing the "New Deal Doctor" could do about it.He is not good at treating leg and arm problems, so he invites his partner to treat them. This is a plastic surgeon-"War Winning Doctor".The New Deal has since announced "honorable retirement."Mobilizing all forces to actively support the war and defeat fascism has become a top priority.

History has proved that President Roosevelt's prediction was not groundless.And this "fireside chat" will also be recorded in the annals of history forever.