Analysis: Proclamation 2425: Selective Service Registration
"Analysis: Proclamation 2425: Selective Service Registration" discusses the historical context and implications of the selective service system introduced by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940. Amid rising global tensions, particularly from Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, the United States recognized the need to prepare for potential military involvement, prompting Congress to pass legislation for compulsory military service. This system required all able-bodied men aged 21 to 36 to report for duty, emphasizing fairness and equity across diverse backgrounds. Roosevelt's proclamation framed the initiative as both a necessary response to international threats and a reflection of democratic values, asserting that every citizen would share the burden of defense. The implementation of this system included provisions to ensure that soldiers would not lose their jobs upon returning from service. While the U.S. was still officially neutral at the time, the proclamation highlighted a commitment to national preparedness in the face of escalating global conflicts. Overall, the analysis provides insight into how the U.S. sought to balance democratic principles with the urgent need for military readiness during a tumultuous period in history.
Analysis: Proclamation 2425: Selective Service Registration
Date: September 16, 1940
Author: Franklin D. Roosevelt
Genre: law
Summary Overview
In the summer of 1940, recognizing the growing military threat from Germany, Congress passed a compulsory military service law. Signing the bill into law, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued a proclamation outlining the new law's provisions. Upon receiving notification, every able-bodied male citizen would report to a designated location for duty, a system that Roosevelt argued was equitable and democratic. The purpose of the new law, Roosevelt said, was to prepare the nation for war in the event that it spilled from Europe across the Atlantic, threatening the United States. Once that threat had abated, Roosevelt said, American soldiers would return to their jobs and private lives.
Defining Moment
By 1940, Adolf Hitler's long-stated goal of expanding Germany's geographic domain was being pursued with great success. After violating the Treaty of Versailles (1919) by inserting troops into the demilitarized Rhineland as well as absorbing Austria, in 1939, the Nazis occupied Czechoslovakia and then invaded Poland (an act that prompted France, Britain, and several British Commonwealth countries to declare war). In 1940, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg also fell to the Nazis. In June of that year, France fell, with a puppet government established in Vichy. In Asia, Japan, which had already invaded the Chinese region of Manchuria in 1931, continued its advance toward Beijing and into Southeast Asia and the South Pacific. (In 1940, Japan would join forces with Germany and Italy through the Tripartite Pact.)
By 1940, virtually every corner of the world except the Western Hemisphere was living under wartime conditions. After France fell, Great Britain represented the last viable opponent for Germany. (Russia had entered into a nonaggression pact with Germany in 1939.) German bombers began sorties over London and other key targets in England during the fall of 1940. Offshore, German U-boats (submarines) started sinking merchant ships en route from the United States to Britain. Fear spread that the war was about to spill off the European continent and move across the Atlantic. A similar fear existed regarding Japan, which was gaining strength and territory in the Pacific.
Weary from World War I and separated from Europe and East Asia by thousands of miles of ocean, the United States remained officially neutral. A majority of Americans simply felt that the growing crisis in Europe, while troubling, did not represent an immediate threat to their hemisphere, particularly since no declaration of war had been issued, nor had there been any direct attacks on American interests.
Nevertheless, President Roosevelt and many members of Congress acknowledged the risks involved with being unprepared should such an attack take place. The US Army had been significantly reduced after World War I, and the US Navy was largely occupied with the Japan crisis. Thus, emergency legislation was introduced in Congress to raise a military force capable of addressing the wartime threat through a system of selective compulsory service. There was some debate over the measure, but it largely took place outside Washington—advocates such as Senator James Francis Byrnes of South Carolina and opponents such as New York pastor Harry Emerson Fosdick went on the radio to argue about the timeliness and content of the proposal. However, in the summer of 1940, the bill moved quickly through Congress. In September, President Roosevelt signed the measure and issued a proclamation to the nation outlining the threat and how citizens would be required to address it.
Author Biography
Franklin D. Roosevelt was born on June 30, 1882, in Hyde Park, New York. He attended Harvard University, graduating in 1903 after only three years. After studying law at Columbia University, Roosevelt practiced law in New York before entering politics as a state senator in 1910. Roosevelt was appointed assistant secretary of the navy by President Woodrow Wilson, serving in that role from 1913 to 1920. In 1921, he was diagnosed with polio, a crippling disease that limited his mobility. In 1928, Roosevelt was elected governor of New York, earning reelection in 1930. In 1932, he won the presidency, gaining reelection three times thereafter, during which time he oversaw the country's recovery from the Great Depression and its efforts during most of World War II. On April 12, 1945, Roosevelt died from a stroke while on vacation in Georgia.
Document Analysis
President Roosevelt signed into law a bill that required every able-bodied American man between the ages of twenty-one and thirty-six to report for active duty in the military. At the time of the signing of the bill, no declaration of war had occurred, nor had any attack taken place. In his proclamation, Roosevelt does not speak to any specific threat, but instead focuses on the equitable and administrative characteristics the system will manifest as long as it is in place. Still, Roosevelt makes clear his desire to raise the military in an expedient and efficient manner, particularly as the war in Europe continued to worsen and spread across that continent. He does not argue for or against US intervention in that conflict, but emphasizes that the American military should be trained and prepared to defend the nation.
Central to the Roosevelt's proclamation is the theme of equality. Any American man between the ages of twenty-one and thirty-six could be called upon to report for duty, Roosevelt says, and it is expected that the call to duty would be answered. Any man could be called, he adds—whether from the city or rural America. Roosevelt states that selective service is fair, democratic, and “the will of our people.” He makes this point to underscore that every congressperson seriously weighed its options (taking into consideration the input of his or her constituents) and delivered a compulsory service bill that would raise an army reflective of every walk of life in the United States.
Roosevelt also highlights the administrative features of the new selective service system. The system defers to states to establish registration centers to which those who were selected would report. Elected officials and other civic organizations and leaders, if not called up for service, would be expected to volunteer their time to ensure that these centers operate efficiently. Furthermore, the system ensures that those reporting for duty would not lose their full-time jobs; federal, state, and local government agencies would work to ensure that recruits would have employment once their service was complete.
In raising a suitable armed force, Roosevelt does not speak to a direct threat to the United States. By 1940, there had been no declaration of war, nor any attack on American soil. Still, Roosevelt says, the United States can no longer turn a blind eye to the growing war in Europe. There was a legitimate threat to the international community, he says. Those European nations ill-prepared to defend themselves when war came have been soundly defeated and conquered, Roosevelt suggests. Therefore, it is imperative for the United States to prepare itself to repel such threats or else suffer the same fate as other nations. Compulsory service makes that capability possible, he says. Once such a global threat no longer exists, Roosevelt adds, the large force this system will create can be reduced, sending Americans back to their private lives.
Glossary
attachés: in a military context: to place on temporary duty with or in assistance to a military unit
hereunder: under or below this; subsequent to this; under authority of this
Bibliography and Additional Reading
“Biography of Franklin D. Roosevelt.” Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum. Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, 2014. Web. 4 Nov. 2014.
Burns, James MacGregor, and Susan Dunn. The Three Roosevelts: Patrician Leaders Who Transformed America. New York: Grove, 2001. Print.
Fosdick, Harry E. “The Country Is Being Rushed Pell-Mell into Military Conscription.” Vital Speeches of the Day. Vol. 6. N.p.: n.p., 1939–40. Ibiblio.org, n.d. Web. 4 Nov. 2014.
“Franklin D. Roosevelt.” WhiteHouse.gov. White House, n.d. Web. 4 Nov. 2014.
Stimson, Henry L. “Our Duty Is Clear: Compulsory Service Must Be Adopted.” Vital Speeches of the Day. Vol. 6. N.p.: n.p., 1939–40. Ibiblio.org, n.d. Web. 4 Nov. 2014.
“World War II Time Line.” National Geographic. Natl. Geographic Soc., 2001. Web. 4 Nov. 2014.