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March 1, 1945
His last major address, only six weeks before his death, this speech is best
remembered as the only time he publicly referred to his disability and the
only one given from the well of the House of Representatives while sitting.
Roosevelt’s performance was uncharacteristically poor; with highly
uncharacteristic and frequent deviations from the prepared text and long
rambling ad libs. The original reading copy of the speech, the actual
document that Roosevelt was using on that day is shown as a background
document that Roosevelt was using on that day, is shown as a background.
Spoken deviations are superimposed in blue and explanatory annotations are
in red.
This was arguably the most important speech FDR ever gave, a dying man’s
attempt to present his legacy for the future of the world by championing a
tt tt t hi l f th f t f th ld b h i i
permanent world peace organization, the United Nations; not at all unlike
the failed efforts of the man he served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy
three decades previously, Woodrow Wilson.
Only a few minutes of selected video of this 55 minute speech still survives,
and none showing Roosevelt at any time he was having difficulty. The speech
is best viewed while listening to the audio recording. It can be downloaded at
http://millercenter.org/scripps/archive/speeches/detail/3338