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Second Draft, “Day of Infamy” speech, cover memo from Harry Hopkins

Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum of the National Archives and Records Administration1941-12-08

U.S. National Archives

U.S. National Archives
United States

At 8:30 a.m. on December 8, FDR met with Harry Hopkins to review his 12:30 p.m. speech to Congress. They worked with this typed second draft of the speech, making their changes in pencil. At Hopkins’s suggestion, the President added a stirring sentence near the end of the address. A handwritten version of the sentence (with FDR’s and Hopkins’s handwriting), titled “Deity,” appears on page 4 of this draft. In the final version of the speech delivered by FDR it reads: “With confidence in our armed forces—with the unbounding determination of our people—we will gain the inevitable triumph—so help us God.” Master Speech File.

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  • Title: Second Draft, “Day of Infamy” speech, cover memo from Harry Hopkins
  • Creator: Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum of the National Archives and Records Administration
  • Date Created: 1941-12-08
  • Location: Washington, D.C.
  • Subject Keywords: Franklin D. Roosevelt, World War II, World War 2, Presidential Speech
U.S. National Archives

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