Franklin D. Roosevelt: Four Freedoms Message to Congress

Questions for Further Study

• 1. Roosevelt crafted his Four Freedoms Message to persuade a deeply divided Congress to support Lend-Lease. Do you believe that Roosevelt was more or less effective than recent administrations in working with divided legislatures?
• 2. At the time of Roosevelt's Four Freedoms Message, Americans were extremely anxious about being drawn into war. What are Americans' attitudes about war today? Are we as reluctant to go to war? Are we hesitant for the same reasons as Americans were in 1940?
• 3. Compare and contrast Roosevelt's “Arsenal of Democracy” fireside chat with his Four Freedoms Message. How did he change the message to serve his different audiences? How are the speeches similar?
• 4. If the president were to pick four freedoms today to illustrate universal human concerns, which four would be chosen and why?
• 5. Compare Roosevelt's Four Freedoms Message with another president's address preparing Americans for war (for example, George W. Bush’s State of the Union Address of January 29, 2002, or Woodrow Wilson’s Second Annual Message to Congress, of December 8, 1914).
• 6. Look at Norman Rockwell's paintings of the Four Freedoms. Do you think Rockwell's depictions accurately reflect Roosevelt's descriptions of the four freedoms? How might a popular artist today depict Roosevelt's concepts?