A Date that will Live in Infamy

The Rhetoric Behind the Speech

Robert C. Taylor June 14, 2011

A Date that Will Live in Infamy The Rhetoric Behind the Speech

Robert C. Taylor

A Date that Will Live in Infamy The Rhetoric Behind the Speech If Roosevelts goal was war, then his speech was the instrument that he used to bring warfare. Congress, after hearing his speech, voted almost unanimously in favor of war. In fact, Roosevelts speech, the famous speech where a date that will live in Infamy originates, can be accurately described as a persuasive piece whose purpose is to gain a war declaration. This speech calls for a declaration of war by combining fact with rhetorical technique to produce a strong undeniable argument which convinces the congressional representatives to retaliate with military action in response to Japans attack. Unsurprisingly, the arguments in the speech rely heavily on preceding events for emotional basis, logical basis, and justification as these events are still fresh in congresses mind. Because the speech was convincing, it can still be heard and is still relatable today despite the fact the speechs native emotional atmosphere has all but dissipated. Also, the significance of the speech has caused the speechs words to still resound in Americas history due to the speechs role in triggering Americas involvement in World War II. Roosevelts effective use of rhetoric convinced the congressional representatives to declare war on the Japanese Empire. First, Japan's ethos is destroyed from Roosevelt's manipulation of fact and emotion. Roosevelts begins his attack very early in his speech by describing Japans attack as both sudden and deliberate to evoke hostile feelings in the congressional representatives. Essentially, he sets the mood in which the congressmen will come to receive the information he presents and he defines the emotional memory these congressmen will take away after hearing his speech. Next, Roosevelt builds logic for his attack on Japans ethos through the use of faulty reasoning by making use of an overgeneralization to prove Japan cannot be trusted. The overgeneralization is built from the way Japans diplomats terminated peace negotiations. That is, the deceitful

A Date that Will Live in Infamy The Rhetoric Behind the Speech

Robert C. Taylor

statement the diplomats made claiming the pointlessness in continuing peace negotiations without hint of the attack which began hour before against Pearl Harbor. Thus, Roosevelt uses the diplomats deceitful behavior as factual basis for his conclusion that Japan is neither a country of honor, nor one that can be trusted. Additionally, to added further credibility to his claim of deceit, Roosevelt mentions that Japan, not the United States, had chosen to begin the peace talks making Japan appear hypocritical. Lastly, to ensure that his overgeneralization is accepted, Roosevelt notes the distance between Japan and Hawaii and communicates that the attack could not have been done out of opportunity but planned long ahead because the distance between Japan and Hawaii is too great. Thus, Roosevelt leaves congress with the conclusion that the nature of Japans attack is premeditated which shatter any remaining ethos held by congress making way for anger, distrust, and hostility. Next, facts were distorted and concealed to present a threatening image of Japan. Roosevelt had to do so because Japan could not fuel an effective war machine due to Japans limited access to resources (Jarmul). Additionally, Japans industrial complex when compared to the United States was a 10th in size (Buchanan). However, Roosevelt chooses to conceal these two facts by claiming to have mobilized the army to defend against Japan. Also, Japan had little interest in the mainland United States and was more interested in Indochina (Jarmul). But, Roosevelt describes Japans actions as a grave danger to American territories and interest to make Japan look highly interested in the American Mainland. Additionally, Roosevelts list of places attacked by Japan was used purely to over portray the scale of the attack because most of the locations listed are located in the Indochina region. Therefore, the United States could have simply used economic sanctions against Japan instead of war which would be very much in the interest of American isolationist. However, Roosevelt did not want economic sanctions which is

A Date that Will Live in Infamy The Rhetoric Behind the Speech

Robert C. Taylor

why he chose to mislead the congressional representatives (World War II). Thus, to prevent America from slipping back into isolationism, Roosevelt presents Japan as dangerous and belligerent to convince congress of the futility of pursuing an alternative course of action. These false portrayals of Japan are accepted by congress which further pushes them toward the decision to declare war. Additionally, Roosevelt ensured that congress believes that action against Japan needs to be taken immediately. Roosevelt describes the attack as a surprise and executed suddenly. He describes the scope of the attack as involving the entire Pacific Rim which includes the western part of the United States. Additionally, He makes use of repetitive structure to state the places Japan attacked to communicate a sense of urgency from his speech. Also, he makes use of slanted language to communicate the need to act urgently by describing the attack as an onslaught which evokes images of vast armies overrunning American military bases. Furthermore, he alludes to a civilian threat by stating, American ships had been reported torpedoed on the high seas. Consequently, the threat to civilians will make congress feel motivated because civilian America placed them into power expecting them to be effective leaders ready to defend America against threat. Lastly, the brevity of the speech sends a message of haste action because the shortness of the speech implies there is limited time for discussion. Essentially, these rhetorical techniques all convey to congress that something must be done, and when the mood is combined with the state of mind created from Roosevelts threatening, ruthless, unethical image of Japan a feeling of anxiety develops. Since anxiety is a highly undesirable mood to exist in, naturally congress will feel motivate to declare war because Roosevelt implies that conflict will bring relief to the congressmans anxiety. Thus, he pushes congress to act out of passion rather than logic.

A Date that Will Live in Infamy The Rhetoric Behind the Speech

Robert C. Taylor

Moreover, Roosevelt ensures that congress yields a declaration of war by making use of skilled political maneuvers. First, he makes the congressmen police their thoughts and makes them question their thoughts against his argument through the introduction of peer pressure. He introduces peer pressure by claiming that he has interpreted the will of congress. Essentially, to the lone congressman, Roosevelt makes it appear that all of the congressmen around the lone congressman are in support of war. Consequently, this creates a group effect as each congressman comes to believe his peers support war leading him to vote in favor of war. This political maneuver causes congress to behave as a single unit working toward his goal of war. Second, Roosevelt makes congress believe that America wants war by claiming he interprets the will of the public. Since he interprets the American publics will, and since he is advocating war, congress is sent the message that America wants war. Additionally, he further reinforces his idea that America wants war in his statement, The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation. Ultimately, the resulting mindset from these political maneuvers leads to success and success is demonstrated by Rosenman statement, This day was different. The applause, the spirit of cooperation, came equally from both sides, which shows the amount of unity that resulted from political manipulation (Deskofbrian). Lastly, to gain the declaration of war, Roosevelt uses nationalistic feelings to convince the congressmen to choose fighting. First, through his statement, Make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us. he presents a multifaceted statement which appeals to multiple values simultaneously. The statement appeals to the classic political argument named For the Children because Roosevelt is claiming war will ensure the safety of Americas young. Additionally, this statement draws on nationalism because nationalistic feeling

A Date that Will Live in Infamy The Rhetoric Behind the Speech

Robert C. Taylor

desire safety and security of both the now and the future. Second, he plays on the natural tendency for revenge by making an abstract claim about the sum of lives lost due to Japans attacks on United States territories. He details the scale of the attack involving both civilian and military installations and activities to ensure congress realizes the threat is to the entirety of the United States. Also, Roosevelt mentions that many lives are lost to both enrage congress and arouse feelings of military support. Finally, he assures congress of Americas inevitable triumph over Japan by portraying Americas fight as good versus evil, godly versus godless. He assures congress, through a brief reference, that God is on Americas side and he assures congress of the American peoples desire to exercise their duty to defend America. Thus, Roosevelt leaves congress desiring war and feeling empowered to wage an effective war. Hence, Roosevelts choice of structure and presentation successfully led to a declaration of war upon Japan. His speech was highly effective at not only unifying congress, but was highly effective in persuading congress to cast aside isolationism and instead pursue a course of war. His argument was highly effective, the American First Committee, an organization designed to advance the isolationist agenda, voted to dissolve its self four days after Roosevelts speech (World War II). Additionally, his speech was highly effective at destroying the Japanese image because during the course of the war over 127,000 Japanese Americans were imprisoned in American concentration camps (Ushistory.org). Moreover, the speech became ingrained in our history because the speech gave birth to a feeling of unity and direction in congress and in the population. Also, the speech was the main instigator of Americas involvement in World War II which places the speech firmly in Americas history. Finally, Roosevelts famous opening phrase, A date that will live in infamy, has forever defined the attack on Pearl Harbor. All of these events came about because Roosevelts carefully wrote his speech, paid attention to

A Date that Will Live in Infamy The Rhetoric Behind the Speech

Robert C. Taylor

rhetorical strategies, and paid attention to the needs and weaknesses of his audience. Consequently, Roosevelt tactics result in congress giving forth a declaration of war against Japan.

A Date that Will Live in Infamy The Rhetoric Behind the Speech

Robert C. Taylor

Works Cited Buchanan, Patrick. Why Did Japan Attack Us?. The American Cause. The American Cause, 2008. Web. 6 June 2011. Deskofbrian. FDR Day of Infamy Speech 12/07/1941. The Desk of Brian. The Desk of Brian, 3 Oct. 2011. Web. 4 June 2011. Jarmul, David. THE MAKING OF A NATION. www.ManyThings.org. Charles Kelly and Lawrence Kelly, 1997-2011. Web. 8 June 201l. Roosevelt, Franklin. Address to Congress, December 8, 1941. Elements of Argument: A Text and Reader. Ed. Annette T. Rottenberg, and Donna Haisty Winchell. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins, 2009. 368-369. Print. Ushistory.org, Japanese-American Internment. U.S. History Online Textbook. U.S. History, 2011. Web. 4 June. 2011. World War II. Rutgers Eagleton Institute of Politics. Eagleton Institute of Politics Rutgers, 19952009. Web. 8 June 2011.

A Date that Will Live in Infamy The Rhetoric Behind the Speech

Robert C. Taylor

A Date that Will Live in Infamy The Rhetoric Behind the Speech by Robert Christian Taylor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.