The Four Freedoms

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Background Information for a

Socratic Seminar

Message to CongressJanuary 6, 1941

• United States– FDR served 2 terms

so far; elected to 3rd– New Deal/2nd New

Deal haven’t quite pulled US out of Great Depression

– Looking toward Reform

• World– FDR early on saw threats

from totalitarian regimes, moving to side with Great Britain.

– The Four Freedoms were a glimpse at FDR’s plan for a future, worldwide, society