Franklin Roosevelt Delano Roosevelt State of the Union January 3, 1938

In the shadow of looming crisis in Europe President Roosevelt gave his annual address to the Congress. Some of what he said:"I am thankful that I can tell you that our nation is at peace. It has been kept at peace despite provocations which in other days, because of their seriousness, could well have engendered war. The people of the United States and the Government of the United States have shown capacity for restraint and a civilized approach to the purposes of peace, while at the same time we maintain the integrity inherent in the sovereignty of 1300,000,000 people, lest we weaken or destroy our influence for peace and jeopardize the sovereignty itself. It is our traditional policy to live at peace with other nations. More than that, we have been among the leaders in advocating the use of pacific methods of discussion and conciliation in international differences. We have striven for the reduction of military forces. But in a world of high tension and disorder, in a world where stable civilization is actually threatened, it becomes the responsibility of each nation which strives for peace at home and peace with and among others to be strong enough to assure the observance of those fundamentals of peaceful solution of conflicts which are the only ultimate basis for orderly existence.