Tumbled Blocks

Tumbled Blocks

Photo: NPS / Kelsey Graczyk

Quick Facts

Amenities

4 listed

Audio Description, Braille, Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Tactile Exhibit

I Hate War

World War II began in Asia and Europe in the 1930s. FDR campaigned on keeping the US out of the war while secretly providing weapons and ships to democratic Great Britain without Congress knowing. These resources helped Great Britain fight authoritarian German and Japanese forces. With conflict raging off both coasts, voters reelected President Roosevelt to an unprecedented third term. Within a year, a Japanese attack on a Hawaiian naval base compelled the US to enter the war. 

FDR realized the US military was too small and outdated to fight a modern war. He authorized the first peacetime draft and the construction of new ships, aircraft, and other material. After the Japanese bombed the US naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war in December 1941.

Memorial Quotes in Room Three

"We must be the great arsenal of democracy." Radio Address, December 29, 1940.

"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." Address at Chautauqua, New York, August 14, 1936. 

Tumbled Blocks

By 1940 military conflict raged from China and Australia to Africa and Europe. Projecting his desire to stay out of the war, FDR declared, "I have seen war.... I hate war." These tumbled blocks represent the breakdown of international order. FDR's words did not prevent the US joining the fighting.