When Peace Has Been Broken Anywhere

Roosevelt delivered this Fireside Chat on September 3, 1939 — the same day Britain and France declared war on Germany following the invasion of Poland. Speaking directly to the American people by radio, FDR acknowledged the European conflict while stopping short of announcing U.S. entry, which public opinion strongly opposed. The statement that broken peace anywhere threatens peace everywhere articulated the internationalist premise that would eventually carry America into the war. The Fireside Chats, of which Roosevelt gave 30 between 1933 and 1944, were a pioneering use of radio to forge a direct relationship between a president and the citizenry.