The Road to Berlin

The President of the United States labored up the long ramp to the Speaker's dais, leaning on the arm of his military aide Major General Edwin M. Watson. He grasped the edge of the reading stand with one big hand, discarded his thick mahogany cane, slapped down his old black notebook. For two minutes his audience--the Congressmen, the diplomats, the Cabinet, the dignitaries and plain people in the galleries--applauded for this stouthearted man who cannot walk, yet does.

No man knew better than Franklin Roosevelt, who had endured the day-by-day shocks, despairs, glimmers, disappointments and hopes, what crucial and sometimes Stygian days the U.S. had just survived. No man was more grateful than he, nor showed it more clearly. Now he could once more speak with the honest ring of triumph, with the assurance of a man who has felt out his enemy and is confident that he can withstand the blows to come, however grievously they hurt.

Year of Promise. Said Franklin Roosevelt: "The past year was perhaps the most crucial for modern civilization; the coming year will be filled with violent conflict--yet with the high promise of better things. ...

"The Axis powers knew that they must win the war in 1942--or eventually lose everything. I do not need to tell you that our enemies did not win this war in 1942.

". . . We know that as each day goes by, Japanese strength in ships and planes is going down and down, and American strength in ships and planes is going up and up. The eventual outcome can be put on a mathematical basis. That will become evident to the people of Japan themselves when we strike at their own home islands, and bomb them constantly from the air.

"... I cannot prophesy. I cannot tell you when or where the United Nations are going to strike next in Europe. ... I cannot tell you whether we are going to hit them in Norway, or through the Low Countries, or in France, or through Sardinia or Sicily, or through the Balkans, or through Poland--or at several points simultaneously. But I can tell you that no matter where and when we strike by land, we and the British and the Russians will hit them from the air heavily and relentlessly. . . .

"Yes, the Nazis and the Fascists have asked for it, and they are going to get it."

The President's voice, as he ticked off the places where the United Nations might attack in Europe, was slow, tantalizing, mocking. He said "they--are--going--to--get--it" with great threatening hyphens between the words. Americans, listening by their radios, remembering Coventry and the Hitler boasts that used to bring a chill to their hearts, nodded. Franklin Roosevelt had captured something of Winston Churchill's spirit.

Year of Production. Franklin Roosevelt continued:

"I can report to you with genuine pride on what has been accomplished in 1942....

"We produced 48,000 military planes--more than the airplane production of Germany, Italy and Japan put together. . . .

"We produced 56,000 combat vehicles, such as tanks and self-propelled artillery.

"In 1942 we produced 670,000 machine guns, six times greater than our production in 1941. . . .

"We produced 21,000 anti-tank guns, six times greater than our 1941 production. . . .

"I think the arsenal of democracy is making good."

The President had not planned to say, "I think." (It was not in his prepared text.) But, noting the pride of his audience in production figures which had never before been fully reduced to statistics he coined a magnificent, spur-of-the-moment understatement. The applause was terrific. It was applause now for a nation, not for one man.

Year of Mistakes. Franklin Roosevelt continued:

"We all know that there have been mistakes--mistakes due to the inevitable process of trial & error inherent in doing big things for the first time. We all know that there have been too many complicated forms and questionnaires. I know about that. I have had to fill some of them out myself. . . . We have learned by the mistakes that have been made. . . .

"Of course there have been inconveniences and disturbances--and even hardships. And there will be many, many more before we finally win. Yes, 1943 will not be an easy year for us on the home front. We shall feel in many ways in our daily lives the sharp pinch of total war."

As the speech moved on to domestic affairs the applause grew thinner. The President's words grew less certain, as if he had suddenly remembered that there were more Republicans on the floor of the House this day than any of the other 13 times he addressed a joint session. ...

The Year to Plan. Said Franklin Roosevelt:

"We should never forget the things we are fighting for. . . . We, and all the United Nations, want a decent peace and a durable peace. . . . The men in our armed forces want a lasting peace, and, equally, they want permanent employment for themselves, their families and their neighbors when they are mustered out at the end of the war. . . . They want assurance against the evils of all major economic hazards--assurance that will extend from the cradle to the grave. This great Government can and must provide this assurance. . . .

"Let us remember that economic safety for the America of the future is threatened unless a greater economic stability comes to the rest of the world. We cannot make America an island in either a military or an economic sense. . . . The United Nations can and must remain united for the maintenance of peace. . . .

"There are cynics and skeptics who say it cannot be done. The American people and all the freedom-loving peoples of this earth are now demanding that it must be done. And the will of these people shall prevail. . . ."

The President snapped his notebook shut. In his speech he had accomplished many things. He had expressed his grave concern for post-war world order, and his great desire for U.S. social security and Government underwriting of full employment, without committing himself to definite programs that his critics might strike at. He rendered great and deserved tribute to the U.S. Allies: the small ones, Great Britain, Russia, long-neglected China. But above all he spoke of his own and the American people's vast relief. Two years ago, when he made his solemn Four Freedoms speech, the nation had been on the road to bitter frustration. A year ago, right after Pearl Harbor, it had been on the road to hell. Now, God willing and the people strong, it was on the road to Berlin.

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