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Argument Analysis of FDR Address

Tyler Judd
2/22/2019
Core 201
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The primary purpose of this argument analysis is to analyze Franklin D. Roosevelts

address to Congress proposing a declaration of war. The goal is to correctly analyze and find two

examples each of pathos, logos, ethos, and also the two argument types induction and deduction.

Arguably one of the most important things to do in a well versed and written speech,

letter, or anything of the sort, is to establish credibility/authority. Although the content is a big

part of it, people need a reason to believe you. Therefore, stating credentials will be helpful.

Roosevelt, being the president, already has enough credentials just having that title under his

name but lets actually take a look into his address. The first example of ethos is in the very first

thing he says and starts off his address with is “Mr. Vice President, and Mr. Speaker, and

Members of the House of Representatives” (Roosevelt, 1941). If you can’t tell, just by who he is

addressing in his speech makes it rather important since he’s addressing some of the most

powerful people in the country. Just reading that first line makes you really think, “hey, what he

is about to say is probably really important”. Being a reader, just reading that first line really

gives off a sense of authority.

A second example of ethos is when Roosevelt says, “As Commander in Chief of the

Army and Navy I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense” (Roosevelt, 1941).

He didn’t come out and specifically state he was the President, but we all know that FDR was.

Here, if addressing the Vice President, Speaker, and House of Representatives didn’t prove his

authority, this definitely does. Being Commander and Chief of the Army and Navy is one of the

most powerful positions and jobs the President of the United States has. Here he is exercising his

right of being the Commander to demand further actions be taken in response to what the Empire

of Japan did.
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Another key component to a good piece of work is an emotional connection you can

make with the readers. One example of pathos in Roosevelt’s address is when he states,

“Yesterday, December 7, 1941-a date that will live in infamy-the United States of American was

suddenly and deliberately attacked by the naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan”

(Roosevelt, 1941). I’m willing to bet that just reading these words gives a lot of people chills and

that just proves the power these words have. This quote has more than one form of the rhetorical

triangle. You can see pathos and logos both in this one sentence. The reason it is pathos is

because of the two words “suddenly” and “deliberately”. Those two words are what really give

the emotional connection or the “chills”. Throughout his speech, FDR uses a lot of descriptive

words and that is a key aspect is making this pathos connection to the audience.

FDR goes on to explain and talk a little about the actions that occurred on December 7,

1941. At one point he says, “Many American lives have been lost” (Roosevelt, 1941). If the

other thing didn’t hit close to home, then this does. Especially for those with any military

background or know/have friends/family in the military. No one wants Americans to die. With

an attack of this scale on U.S. soil, saying that American lives have been lost really shakes up

some emotions inside a lot of people. This is an example of logos because of what comes before.

Many American lives being lost is what concludes the attack on the Hawaiian Islands that caused

severe damage to the American military and naval forces (Roosevelt, 1941).

The second form of logos can be seen at the end, with his very last statement in which he

says, “I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on

Sunday, December 7, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the

Japanese empire” (Roosevelt, 1941). The logos here is pretty obvious in which he is asking

congress to declare war on Japan since they attacked Pearl Harbor.

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The third example of logos can be found when Roosevelt states, “With confidence in our

armed forces-with the unbounding determination of our people-we will gain the inevitable

triumph-so help us God” (Roosevelt, 1941). One way this can be said in the cause/effect relation

is: because of the confidence in our armed forces and unbounding determination of our people,

therefore we will gain the inevitable triumph.

Induction and deduction are rational argument types. The difference between the two is

that induction is more of a generalization and deduction is 100% true if the premises are true. If

the supporting claims of an argument are true, therefore the conclusion must be true. There are

multiple examples of induction throughout FDR’s address. One example of induction in

Roosevelt’s address is when he says, “Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our

people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger” (Roosevelt, 1941). This also can be

broken into two different forms of argument. There is evidence of both induction and deduction

in this sentence. The deduction here would be that “hostilities exist”, but the bulk of it is

inductive. Yes, it is true that hostilities exist. Yes, it also may be true that our interests as a nation

may be in danger following the attack from Japan. But, “our territory” and “our people” are not

all equally in danger (Roosevelt, 1941). For example, say a family in Nebraska wouldn’t be

affected the same way a family with members in the military would be affected. Yea sure there

are lots of people affected by the actions of the Empire of Japan, but it does not affect everyone

in our nation as a whole equally. I do however think that it is okay to say this given the events

that just happened and surely there were millions and millions of other people thinking that same

thing for years to come; but all in all, it is merely an assumption, therefore, making it inductive.

Another fine example of induction in FDR’s address is when he says, “No matter how long it

may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous
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might will win through to absolute victory” (Roosevelt, 1941, par. 10). The reason this is

inductive is because of the possibility of losing. Roosevelt is stating with confidence that we, as a

nation, will overcome our perils and come out on top. We did, thank god. But there was the

possibility of losing. There was no guarantee that we would be victorious. Therefore, this is an

example of induction.

Deduction, on the other hand, can be proved without a shadow of a doubt if what

supports the claim is also true. One example of deduction you can pull from the text is, “It will

be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was

deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago” (Roosevelt, 1941). The claim in this

sentence is that the attack was planned many days or weeks in advance to when the actual attack

took place. This is deductive because you can’t just suddenly on a whim decided to put together

an attack of that size on another country. The attack was planned in advance and to make it

worse the United States was deliberately deceived into thinking there was peace talks going on

with no hint of an attack at all (Roosevelt, 1941). Another great example of this is the address is

when FDR states, “The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian Islands has caused severe damage to

American naval and military forces. I regret to tell you that very many American lives have been

lost” (Roosevelt, 1941). Both of these sentences right off the bat are factual. The claim here is

that many American lives have been lost. Which is true. The supporting claim is that the attack

that took place on the Hawaiian Islands caused severe damage to American naval and military

forces. Another supporting claim that goes along with this same claim is “…American ships

have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu” (Roosevelt,

1941). That is also true which makes the concluding claim true, therefore this is a deduction.
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The next example of deduction actually could be a little bit of pathos too. Franklin D.

Roosevelt goes on to talk about the Japanese forces and how they attacked six different locations,

then he states, “Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the

Pacific area” (Roosevelt, 1941). The claim in this example is that Japan has taken a surprise

offensive throughout the Pacific. The supporting claims for this are all of the six places the

Empire of Japan has attacked, the six being; Malaya, Hong Kong, Guam, Philippine Islands,

Wake Island, and Midway Island. The way deduction works is that if the supporting claims are

true then the concluding claim, therefore, is also true. The supporting claim, in this case, is

factual, therefore making the concluding claim true.

Overall, FDR used many examples of ethos, pathos and logos as well as different

examples of induction and deduction. Using descriptive words really helped out in the case of

pathos, which is emotion, as well as listing out all of the different places Japan attacked instead

of listing them one by one which I feel helps add to the overall emotional connection between

the text and reader.

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Works Cited

Transcript of Joint Address to Congress Leading to a Declaration of War Against Japan. 1941.

D2L. Retrieved from

https://learn.radford.edu/d2l/le/content/137022/viewContent/2194921/View