On December 21, 1941, Franklin D. Roosevelt stated:
“I have set aside a Day of Prayer, and in that Proclamation I have said:
‘The year 1941 has brought upon our Nation a war of aggression by powers dominated by arrogant rulers whose selfish purpose is to destroy free institutions …
Therefore, I … do hereby appoint the first day of the year 1942 as a Day of Prayer, of asking forgiveness for our shortcomings of the past, of consecration to the tasks of the present, of asking God’s help in days to come.'”
Franklin D. Roosevelt stated in a proclamation, November 12, 1935:
“Let us then on the day appointed offer our devotions and our humble thanks to Almighty God and pray that the people of America will be guided by Him in helping their fellow men.”
Roosevelt warned at the Dinner of White House Correspondents, MARCH 15, 1941:
“Modern tyrants find it necessary to eliminate all democracies … A few weeks ago I spoke of … freedom of speech and expression, freedom of every person to worship God in his own way …
If we fail — if democracy is superseded by slavery … freedoms, or even the mention of them, will become forbidden things. Centuries will pass before they can be revived …
When dictatorships disintegrate — and pray God that will be sooner … May it be said of us in the days to come that our children and our children’s children rise up and call us blessed.”