The Progressives Woodrow Wilson and FDR

In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression -- everywhere in the world. The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way -- everywhere in the world. The third is freedom from want -- which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants -- everywhere in the world. The fourth is freedom from fear -- which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor-- anywhere in the world. I have chosen a part of President Franklin Roosevelt’s third term State of the Union Address to Congress in 1941. We had not yet entered the war or been bombed by Japan at Pearl Harbor. There were many who wanted to remain isolationists even though Europe was being devastated and Great Britain was putting up a brave front. In this speech known as the Four Freedoms speech, he outlines our purpose for supporting the allies in WWII. This is the basis for the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This was also espoused by President Wilson in his Four Points speech.