QU301 Blog -1

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s address to congress and Barack Obama’s inaugural address, though delivered decades apart from each other, share many similarities including the many facets of freedom and the ultimate goal of obtaining freedom. Roosevelt defines, “Freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere.” Roosevelt’s speech is directed not only towards the American people but also to the people of the world as is evident in his definition of freedom. He emphasizes freedom of speech, freedom to worship, “freedom from want” and “freedom from fear” “everywhere in the world.” Obama’s speech is directed primarily towards the American people though he does speak to other nations stating, “know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.”
In his address, Roosevelt introduces freedom from want and freedom from fear. Freedom from want means having basic economic necessities such as healthcare, employment, shelter, and education. Obama refers to the current economic crisis and the basic economic necessities that have been compromised. He states, “Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.” While Roosevelt translates freedom from want into global terms explaining freedom from want as, “economic understandings, which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants,” Obama recognizes the improvements that need to be made within our own country to secure this freedom. Roosevelt mentions a world-wide reduction of military strength so that no nation would have the means to act out aggression. Obama emphasizes that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism with not just brute force but, “with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions.” Today armaments include nuclear weapons making reduction an even greater necessity.
Both speeches emphasize “we”; that securing freedom is not an individual task but the price of citizenship of a free nation. Obama accentuates, “What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility – a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world.” Both Obama and Roosevelt refer to our “unity of purpose” as our strength and hope. And as both speeches can be described as “pep” talks directed towards the American people they end on positive inspirational tones. Roosevelt states, referring to our unity of purpose, “To that high concept there can be no end save victory,” while Obama asks us to think of our children’s children who will look back on our generation as the ones that “carried forth the great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.” Both speeches leave their audiences with a feeling of hope for the future.