The Influence of Franklin D. Roosevelt on Modern American Presidential Speeches

Abstract

In this Paper I will describe the influence of the 32nd President Franklin D. Roosevelt on modern American Presidential speeches and reveal just how different Presidential speeches were before the election of FDRfrom more recent presidents. I will begin first with a brief introduction of who Franklin D. Roosevelt was for the benefit of people who are unfamiliar with the 32nd president. I will also attempt to prove how most American politicians now try to emulate FDR almost as much as Abraham Lincoln.

Introduction

I have always been fascinated by Franklin Delano Roosevelt his style of speaking is so different from recent presidents that I cannot help but be captivated by not only the content of his words but also the dialect. Yes, that’s right I said dialect. That’s because Franklin Delano Roosevelt speaks not a common American dialect but with an accent known as the Mid Atlantic accent. This is not an accent that is naturally learned but an accent that the speaker has to be educated in to be able to speak it (More on that later).

That is why I want to talk about him he is such a diverting character that I think it would be an interesting read to write about him. First of all, I should talk a short overview of who exactly is Roosevelt. Franklin Delano Roosevelt (affectionately known as FDR) was the 32nd president

Of the United States of America first elected on November 8, 1932, and Sworn in the office on March 4, 1933.

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He was elected for a 2nd time on November 3, 1936. He made history as the first person to be elected more than twice on November 5, 1940, and a 4th time in November 7, 1944. His term lasted from 1933 until his death in 1945 making him the longest-serving president in United States history. This proves he was an extremely popular president and his speeches were one of the biggest reasons for his popularity.

Literature Review

I first noticed Franklin Roosevelt when I was reading about the World War II in the book by Stewart Ross called (the leaders of World War II) written in the year 2000. This book was talking about the world leaders of the main combatants of the war such as Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Hideki Tojo, and Franklin Roosevelt. It is in this book that I was first introduced to Franklin Roosevelt in detail. However, the main book that I used in this paper was the biography (FDR) written by Jean Edward Smith in 2007. This is the book that I will be referencing the most in this research paper project. The second Source that I used in this research paper is Eleanor Roosevelt’s Autobiography (the years after) in 1955 in which she talked about her life and about her husband Franklin Roosevelt. These very famous and well-known biographies are an excellent resource for anyone to use. However, there is another very useful resource that I highly recommend and that is the Franklin Delano Roosevelt presidential library. The information available in the Franklin Delano Roosevelt presidential library is a treasure trove for anyone interested in learning more about Franklin D. Roosevelt and it is from this presidential library that I will be using to study about Franklin D. Roosevelt’s speeches in this paper.

Significance of Research

The influence of FDR on more recent Presidents like Bill Clinton and Barak Obama should not be underestimated because anyone who wishes to be in public office needs to pay attention to the way FDR speaks to the public. The main outcome that I hope will happen after you read this paper is that I will be able to convince you that Franklin D. Roosevelt’s style of speech is: unique, unusual, unorthodox, ground breaking, charming, eloquent and sometimes very strange. However, although Franklin D. Roosevelt’s style of speaking is very interesting and very enjoyable to listen to and read I don’t recommend that modern speakers should emulate it. Because doing so in a modern setting would sound out of place and strange due to his Mid Atlantic accent has fallen out of fashion in today’s political spectrum. The reason for this is because it now has a different association than what it had in Franklin D. Roosevelt’s time. For you see, the Mid Atlantic accent is a dialect that is distinctively American but with a British flavor for Example, the word dance in the Mid Atlantic accent is pronounced the same way in Britain instead of the American pronunciation. That is why it is called the Mid Atlantic accent because it between American dialect and the British dialect Hence the name. This dialect became popular in the United States because before the Two World Wars America wanted to be like the British whom they considered to be the most developed and advanced county in the world and the American people wanted to emulate the British in every way. However, after the Two World Wars America became a superpower and its economy way growing very fast so, the American people wanted to forge their own identity.

As such the Mid Atlantic accent fell out of use after that and most people no longer use it in fact it is now mostly used for satire and parody when depicting the elite of society in comedy shows in television comedy films. Therefore, I don’t recommend it to modern speakers. However, there is much to appreciate and learn from Franklin D. Roosevelt’s speaking style and we shall see how his style influenced his successors.

Research Question

The main research question of this paper is what changed in presidential speeches after FDR took office. Also, what are the differences between the speeches before and after the election of FDR? These will be compared later in the paper.

Research Methodology

By comparing and cross referencing the speeches of FDR with the speeches of presidents directly before him we notice how strikingly different they are from each other and when we compare the speeches of FDR with the speeches of the presidents directly after him we notice how remarkably similar they are to each other. The main speeches that I will be comparing in this research paper are the following:inauguration speeches of Franklin Roosevelt.