9 December 1941 · The White House
Fireside Chat 19, two days after Pearl Harbor
The declaration had passed the day before; this is the talk in which Roosevelt explains to the household rather than the Congress what the next years will cost. Estimated to have reached the largest radio audience in American history to that point.
The War · 27 min · Public domain
Hear next
12 April 1945
Twenty-five seconds that stopped the schedule
12 April 1945
A commentator improvising in real time
15 April 1945
Broadcast three days after the camp was reached
16 April 1945
Four days into a presidency nobody prepared him for