Editing Quarantine Speech

{{Short description|1937 speech by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt}}
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The '''''Quarantine Speech''''' was a speech given by U.S. President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] in [[Chicago]] on October 5, 1937. The speech called for an international "quarantine" against the spread of the "epidemic of world lawlessness" by aggressive nations as an alternative to the political climate of American neutrality and non-intervention that was prevalent at the time. No countries were directly mentioned in the speech, although it was interpreted as referring to the [[Empire of Japan]], the [[Kingdom of Italy]], and [[Nazi Germany]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Patrick J. Maney |url=https://archive.org/details/rooseveltpresenc00mane |title=The Roosevelt presence: the life and legacy of FDR |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-520-21637-2 |page=[https://archive.org/details/rooseveltpresenc00mane/page/114 114] |quote=quarantine speech italy japan. |url-access=registration}}</ref> Roosevelt suggested the use of economic pressure, a forceful response, but less direct than outright aggression. The speech was given at the dedication of the [[Outer Drive Bridge]] between north and south outer [[Lake Shore Drive]]. The speech received backlash for its interventionist ideals, causing protest from non-interventionists and heightening America's isolationist sentiments.

Public response to the speech was mixed. Famed cartoonist [[Percy Crosby]], creator of [[Skippy (comic strip)]] and very outspoken Roosevelt critic, bought a two-page advertisement in the ''New York Sun'' to attack it.<ref>[http://www.dcdave.com/article5/101003.htm Percy Crosby on Franklin Roosevelt], David Martin, October 3, 2010</ref> In addition, it was heavily criticized by [[William Randolph Hearst|Hearst-owned]] newspapers and [[Robert R. McCormick]] of the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'', but several subsequent compendia of editorials showed overall approval in US media.<ref>{{cite book|title=Franklin D. Roosevelt and the search for security: American-Soviet relations, 1933-1939|author=Edward Moore Bennett|year=1995|publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=waaATTy24WUC&q=quarantine+speech+roosevelt+Hearst|pages=98,99,100 | isbn=978-0-8420-2247-7}}</ref>

Roosevelt realized the impact that those writing in favor of [[isolationism]] had on the nation. He hoped that the storm isolationists had created would fade away and allow the general public to become educated and even active in international policy.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=John McV. Haight|first=Jr.|date=1962|title=Roosevelt and the Aftermath of the Quarantine Speech|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1405491|journal=The Review of Politics|volume=24|issue=2|pages=233–259|doi=10.1017/S0034670500009669|jstor=1405491|s2cid=143361915 |issn=0034-6705|url-access=subscription}}</ref> However, this was not the response that grew over time, with the controversy eventually intensifying isolationism views in more Americans.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Andrew Glass|title=FDR calls for 'quarantine' of aggressor nations, Oct. 5, 1937|url=https://politi.co/2y2PY9g|access-date=2021-03-03|website=POLITICO|date=5 October 2018 |language=en}}</ref> Roosevelt even mentioned in two personal letters written on October 16, 1937, that "he was 'fighting against a public psychology which comes very close to saying 'peace at any price.'"<ref>{{Cite journal|last=John McV. Haight|first=Jr.|date=1962|title=Roosevelt and the Aftermath of the Quarantine Speech|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1405491|journal=The Review of Politics|volume=24|issue=2|pages=235|jstor=1405491|issn=0034-6705}}</ref> Disappointed in how the public reacted to the speech, Roosevelt decided to take a step back with regards to his foreign policy, even to the point of accepting an apology from Japan after the sinking of the [[USS Panay incident|USS Panay]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Franklin D. Roosevelt - Foreign policy|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Franklin-D-Roosevelt|access-date=2021-03-03|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt]]
* ''[[Midway (2019 film)|Midway]]'' - This film features the Quarantine Speech being played over the opening credits.

==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* Borg, Dorothy. "Notes on Roosevelt's" Quarantine" Speech." ''Political Science Quarterly'' 72.3 (1957): 405-433. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2145326 in JSTOR]
* Dallek, Robert. ''Franklin D Roosevelt And American Foreign Policy 1932 1945'' (1979) [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.85890 online] pp 148–51
* Haight, John McV. "Roosevelt and the Aftermath of the Quarantine Speech." ''Review of Politics'' 24#2 (1962): 233–259
* Haight, John McV. "France and the Aftermath of Roosevelt's 'Quarantine' Speech." ''World Politics'' 14#2 (1962), pp.&nbsp;283–306 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2009298 in JSTOR]
*''[https://archive.org/details/nomorekillingfie00hamb/page/36 <!-- quote=quarantine speech roosevelt. --> No more killing fields: preventing deadly conflict]''. David A. Hamburg, Cyrus S. Vance, 2003, [[Rowman & Littlefield]]. Pages 36–37. {{ISBN|978-0-7425-1675-5}}.
* Jacobs, Travis Beal. "Roosevelt's "Quarantine Speech"." ''Historian'' 24.4 (1962): 483–502. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/24438020 in JSTOR]
* Ryan, Halford Ross. ''Franklin D. Roosevelt's rhetorical presidency'' (Greenwood Press, 1988).

==External links==
{{wikisource}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120509132052/http://millercenter.org/president/speeches/detail/3310 Transcript and audio of speech]

{{Franklin D. Roosevelt}}

[[Category:1937 in international relations]]
[[Category:1937 in the United States]]
[[Category:History of Chicago]]
[[Category:Speeches by Franklin D. Roosevelt]]
[[Category:World War II speeches]]
[[Category:1937 in Illinois]]
[[Category:October 1937 in the United States]]
[[Category:1937 speeches]]