This transcript contains the published text of the speech, not the actual words spoken. There may be some differences between the transcript and the audio content.

When four years ago we met to inaugurate President, the Republic, single-minded in anxiety, stood in spirit here. We dedicated ourselves to the fulfillment of a vision—to speed the time when there would be for all the people that security and peace essential to the pursuit of happiness. We of the Republic pledged ourselves to drive from the temple of our ancient faith those who had profaned it; to end by action, tireless and unafraid, the stagnation and despair of that day. We did those first things first.

Our covenant with ourselves did not stop there. Instinctively we recognized a deeper need—the need to find through government the instrument of our united purpose to solve for the individual the ever-rising problems of a complex civilization. Repeated attempts at their solution without the aid of government had left us baffled and bewildered. For, without that aid, we had been unable to create those moral controls over the services of science which are necessary to make science a useful servant instead of a ruthless master of mankind. To do this we knew that we must find practical controls over blind economic forces and blindly selfish men.

We of the Republic sensed the truth that democratic government has innate capacity to protect its people against disasters once considered inevitable, to solve problems once considered unsolvable. We would not admit that we could not find a way to master economic epidemics just as, after centuries of fatalistic suffering, we had found a way to master epidemics of disease. We refused to leave the problems of our common welfare to be solved by the winds of chance and the hurricanes of disaster. Continue on to listen to FDR’s Speech: 1/20/1937 – Second Inaugural Address »

President Roosevelt seeks reelection in the upcoming election and gives his last speech prior to the public going to the polls.

This transcript contains the published text of the speech, not the actual words spoken. There may be some differences between the transcript and the audio content.

Senator Wagner, Governor Lehman, ladies and gentlemen:

On the eve of a national election, it is well for us to stop for a moment and analyze calmly and without prejudice the effect on our Nation of a victory by either of the major political parties.

The problem of the electorate is far deeper, far more vital than the continuance in the Presidency of any individual. For the greater issue goes beyond units of humanity—it goes to humanity itself.

In 1932 the issue was the restoration of American democracy; and the American people were in a mood to win. They did win. In 1936 the issue is the preservation of their victory. Again they are in a mood to win. Again they will win. Continue on to listen to FDR’s Speech: 10/31/1936 – Madison Square Garden »

President Roosevelt seeks to remind farmers and laborers of how they rely on one another two months before the election, in which he successfully carries both the agricultural and industrial states. After the 1936 drought, the President outlines the relief efforts being made for the farmers, while also highlighting programs under way for labor.

This transcript contains the published text of the speech, not the actual words spoken. There may be some differences between the transcript and the audio content.

I have been on a journey of husbandry. I went primarily to see at first hand conditions in the drought states; to see how effectively Federal and local authorities are taking care of pressing problems of relief and also how they are to work together to defend the people of this country against the effects of future droughts.

That was the extreme case, but there are thousands and thousands of families on western farms who share the same difficulties. Continue on to listen to FDR’s Fireside Chat: 9/06/1936 – On Farmers and Laborers »

The President addresses the delegates after receiving the nomination at the 1936 Democratic National Convention.

This transcript contains the published text of the speech, not the actual words spoken. There may be some differences between the transcript and the audio content.

Senator Robinson, Members of the Democratic Convention, my friends:

Here, and in every community throughout the land, we are met at a time of great moment to the future of the Nation. It is an occasion to be dedicated to the simple and sincere expression of an attitude toward problems, the determination of which will profoundly affect America.

I come not only as a leader of a party, not only as a candidate for high office, but as one upon whom many critical hours have imposed and still impose a grave responsibility.

For the sympathy, help and confidence with which Americans have sustained me in my task I am grateful. For their loyalty I salute the members of our great party, in and out of political life in every part of the Union. I salute those of other parties, especially those in the Congress of the United States who on so many occasions have put partisanship aside. I thank the Governors of the several States, their Legislatures, their State and local officials who participated unselfishly and regardless of party in our efforts to achieve recovery and destroy abuses. Above all I thank the millions of Americans who have borne disaster bravely and have dared to smile through the storm. Continue on to listen to FDR’s Speech: 7/27/1936 – 1936 Democratic Convention »

President Roosevelt begins his address by defending the New Deal as a unified program rather than a group of individual laws. He specifically champions the newly passed Works Progress Administration as a necessary program to combat unemployment. The President also introduces the Social Security Act, at the time awaiting action by Congress.

This transcript contains the published text of the speech, not the actual words spoken. There may be some differences between the transcript and the audio/video content.

Since my annual message to the Congress on January fourth, last, I have not addressed the general public over the air. In the many weeks since that time the Congress has devoted itself to the arduous task of formulating legislation necessary to the country’s welfare. It has made and is making distinct progress.

Before I come to any of the specific measures, however, I want to leave in your minds one clear fact. The Administration and the Congress are not proceeding in any haphazard fashion in this task of government. Each of our steps has a definite relationship to every other step. The job of creating a program for the Nation’s welfare is, in some respects, like the building of a ship. At different points on the coast where I often visit they build great seagoing ships. When one of these ships is under construction and the steel frames have been set in the keel, it is difficult for a person who does not know ships to tell how it will finally look when it is sailing the high seas. Continue on to listen to FDR’s Fireside Chat: 4/28/1935 – On the Works Relief Program and Social Security Act »

Five weeks before mid-term elections, President Roosevelt addresses the relationship between management, labor, and government. He reprimands both labor and business for not fully cooperating with New Deal reforms but perhaps comes down harder on business, hinting at Roosevelt’s movement to the left.

This transcript contains the published text of the speech, not the actual words spoken. There may be some differences between the transcript and the audio/video content.

Three months have passed since I talked with you shortly after the adjournment of the Congress. Tonight I continue that report, though, because of the shortness of time, I must defer a number of subjects to a later date.

Recently the most notable public questions that have concerned us all have had to do with industry and labor and with respect to these, certain developments have taken place which I consider of importance. I am happy to report that after years of uncertainty, culminating in the collapse of the spring of 1933, we are bringing order out of the old chaos with a greater certainty of the employment of labor at a reasonable wage and of more business at a fair profit. These governmental and industrial developments hold promise of new achievements for the nation. Continue on to listen to FDR’s Fireside Chat: 8/30/1934 – On Government and Capitalism »

Sixty days into the “First Hundred Days” Roosevelt updates the nation on the progress of the special session of Congress that he called on March 5th. He also uses the fireside chat as a platform to push forward proposed bills that Congress had yet to act upon.

This transcript contains the published text of the speech, not the actual words spoken. There may be some differences between the transcript and the audio content.

On a Sunday night a week after my Inauguration I used the radio to tell you about the banking crisis and the measures we were taking to meet it. I think that in that way I made clear to the country various facts that might otherwise have been misunderstood and in general provided a means of understanding which did much to restore confidence.

Tonight, eight weeks later, I come for the second time to give you my report — in the same spirit and by the same means to tell you about what we have been doing and what we are planning to do. Continue on to listen to FDR’s Fireside Chat: 5/07/1933 – On Progress During the First Two Months »

When Roosevelt was inaugurated March 4, 1933 (32 days after Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany), the U.S. was at the nadir of the worst depression in its history. A quarter of the workforce was unemployed. Farmers were in deep trouble as prices fell by 60%. Industrial production had fallen by more than half since 1929. Two million were homeless. Due to the lack of employment, organized crime and outlaws were on the rise, such as John Dillinger. By the evening of March 4, 32 of the 48 states, as well as the District of Columbia had closed their banks. The New York Federal Reserve Bank was unable to open on the 5th, as huge sums had been withdrawn by panicky customers in previous days. Beginning with his inauguration address, Roosevelt began blaming the economic crisis on bankers and financiers, the quest for profit, and the self-interest basis of capitalism:

“Primarily this is because rulers of the exchange of mankind’s goods have failed through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence, have admitted their failure, and have abdicated. Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men. True they have tried, but their efforts have been cast in the pattern of an outworn tradition. Faced by failure of credit they have proposed only the lending of more money. Stripped of the lure of profit by which to induce our people to follow their false leadership, they have resorted to exhortations, pleading tearfully for restored confidence….The money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths. The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit.”

Historians categorized Roosevelt’s program as “relief, recovery and reform.” Relief was urgently needed by tens of millions of unemployed. Recovery meant boosting the economy back to normal. Reform meant long-term fixes of what was wrong, especially with the financial and banking systems. Roosevelt’s series of radio talks, known as fireside chats, presented his proposals directly to the American public.

On Sunday March 12, 1933 U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt addressed the nation, over the airwaves, in the first of what would be known as his fireside chats. The President sat down to explain banking in terms that the layman could understand and why it was in the best interest of the country for a “bank holiday” shortly after Roosevelt took office.

FDR Fireside Chat – 3/12/1933, On the Banking Crisis

Download the radio speech here!