Four Freedoms Speech Themes

In America during the late 1930s and early 1940s, the topic of World War II was sort of like the big, looming elephant in the room. Everyone was thinking about it, but no one wanted to talk about i...

FDR addresses happiness in two ways…and neither of them, mysteriously, has anything to do with bubble baths, pints of cookie-dough ice cream, or using a new toothbrush for the first time. First,...

For FDR, the notion of loyalty is closely tied to patriotism on the home front and responsibility on the international scene. He spends a fair amount of time promoting the benefits of brotherhood a...

Bring us the fatted calf. (Well, no, not exactly...there was no such thing as a fatted calf after the Great Depression.)The theme of sacrifice is present from the beginning to the end of this speec...