A GENERATION OF LEADERSHIP - THIRD TERM

"We are now in this war. We are all in it - all the way. Every single man, woman, and child is a partner in the most tremendous undertaking of our American history." - FDR, 1941

Imagine finally going back to work, perhaps with the Works Progress Administration or Tennessee Valley Authority, or through any of the other New Deal programs. You're bringing food to your family's table, clothes to your children, and you actually feel you're climbing out of the Depression and beginning to enjoy life again. Then, enemy bombs destroy it all in one single day.

For Americans in the Territory of Hawaii, that became a reality on December 7, 1941. For the rest of the shocked nation, fear gripped them as to what tomorrow would bring. Two days later, during one of his "fireside chats" to the nation, FDR explained his position in the quote above.

Upon entering the "Third Term Room" of the memorial, visitors leave the symbols of hope laid out in the "Second Term Room" and into the uncertainty of war. Engraved on the stone walkway is, "Third Term 1941-1945." For Americans, these years are synonymous with the Second World War. For FDR, this entire term would involve preventing world destruction. Visitors are initially greeted with a destructive presence, as giant granite blocks are strewn across their path.

A roaring noise comes from the right, as visitors see the "violence" of a chaotic waterfall, crashing over jagged boulders. It's readily apparent that this is the source of the strewn boulders, as if a massive explosion had occurred here. This is symbolic of the destruction of war. FDR's feelings toward war are on the damaged wall.

"I have seen war. I have seen war on land and sea. I have seen blood running from the wounded . . . I have seen the dead in the mud. I have seen cities destroyed . . . I have seen children starving. I have seen the agony of mothers and wives. I hate war."

FDR was referencing his experiences as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, while touring the battlefields of France during the First World War. Ironically this address was delivered in 1936 during the Spanish Civil War, a training ground for Hitler's troops. During a fireside chat in 1940 FDR said, "We must be the great arsenal of democracy." Imagine now, you join millions of other Americans to become part of that arsenal. You leave the family you've suffered through the Depression with, and go off to war and an uncertain fate.

FDR's statue dominates this scene of destruction. It shows him in a pose seen in countless newsreels and photographs of the era. He shows strength and purpose in the face of this war. His eyes gaze ahead to the future. FDR's third term was wholly devoted to winning this war and then working toward a lasting peace. FDR was so confident in what the country could achieve; he summed it up in these words, engraved on the wall next to his statue:

"We have faith that future generations will know that here, in the middle of the twentieth century, there came a time when men of good will found a way to unite, and produce, and fight to destroy the forces of ignorance, and intolerance, and slavery, and war."

Imagine being a part of the national effort to achieve that goal, which cost the lives of over 300,000 of your countrymen. Imagine being able to come home to family, to friends, and a grateful nation made even better because of what you did.