I make this direct statement to the American people that there is far less chance of the United States getting into war, if we do all we can now to support the nations defending themselves against attack by the Axis than if we acquiesce in their defeat, submit tamely to an Axis victory, and wait our turn to be the object of attack in another war later on.
ATTRIBUTION:
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945), U.S. president. David Dallek, Franklin D. Roosevelt and American Foreign Policy: 1932-1945, p. 256, Oxford University Press (1979).
