Yesterday the Japanese Government also launched an attack against Malaya. In addition, American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu. I regret to tell you that very many American lives have been lost. The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian Islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. During the intervening time, the Japanese Government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States with false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace. It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or weeks ago. And while this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or armed attack. Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing the American Island of Oahu, the Japanese Ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered a formal reply to a recent American message to our Secretary of State. The United States was at peace with that nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, still in conversation with its Government and its Emperor looking toward maintaining peace in the Pacific. Yesterday, Decem– a date which will live in infamy – the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by the naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. Speaker, members of the Senate, of the House of Representatives. The Day of Infamy Speech lasted a little over seven minutes and began at 12:30 pm Eastern, December 8, 1941, in front of a joint session of Congress. It was heard by the largest audience in US radio history and pulled the nation together and away from their fear and dismay only hours previous. Within an hour after his short speech, Congress declared War. This famous speech, which would signal the United States’ involvement in World War II, would have a long-lasting effect. Roosevelt’s “Infamy” speech to Congress on December 8, 1941, was in response to the attack on Pearl Harbor Naval Base in Hawaii the previous day by the Empire of Japan. Thought to be one of the most famous American political speeches of the 20th Century, President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his famous Infamy Speech to Congress one day after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
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