Quarantine speech
The "Quarantine Speech," delivered by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on October 5, 1937, addressed the growing global tensions and aggression from nations such as Japan and Germany. In this speech, Roosevelt condemned acts of violence and highlighted the dangers of international lawlessness, warning that such behaviors could threaten the peace of the Western Hemisphere. He proposed a "quarantine" of aggressor nations, likening it to a public health measure intended to protect the community from the spread of disease. This metaphor illustrated his belief that peace-loving nations needed to unite against aggression rather than rely solely on isolation or neutrality.
Despite his call for collective action, Roosevelt's speech faced mixed reactions. While some praised his leadership, many isolationists criticized the notion of increased international involvement, fearing it could lead the United States into another war. Roosevelt's insistence on maintaining peace while considering sanctions reflected the complex sentiment of the American public at the time, which was largely opposed to foreign entanglements. Ultimately, the speech marked a significant moment in U.S. foreign policy, as it signaled a potential shift towards a more active stance against aggression, even though it did not lead to immediate concrete actions.
Quarantine speech
The Event Public address in which President Roosevelt proposed international action against Japanese aggression in East Asia
Date October 5, 1937
Place Chicago, Illinois
President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s call for international action against Japan represented a turning point in American foreign policy. However, because of strong isolationist pressures in the United States, several years passed before Roosevelt took stronger action.
In July, 1937, Japanese and Chinese troops exchanged gunfire at the Marco Polo Bridge outside Beijing, providing a pretext for Japan to launch an undeclared war to impose dominance over China. Two years earlier, Italy had invaded Ethiopia, and in March, 1936, Nazi Germany had remilitarized the Rhineland. These events only reinforced isolationism in the United States, as most Americans rejected any commitments to defend security abroad. This limited Roosevelt to little more than verbal condemnation of Japanese aggression. However, he feared isolationism would foster more Japanese expansionism, especially after Germany and Italy signed the Anti-Comintern Pact in 1936. In September, 1937, Roosevelt’s anger and revulsion upon learning of Japanese brutality against the Chinese caused him to consider proposing that all peaceful nations join to isolate any state staging acts of aggression. Roosevelt thought terminating trade was an effective sanction and would make a resort to war unnecessary.
On October 5, 1937, Roosevelt arrived in Chicago to dedicate a Public Works Administration bridge. In his remarks to a large crowd, he condemned, in an indirect reference to atrocities in Spain and China, ruthless bombing of civilians. Roosevelt then declared that the current reign of terror and lawlessness in the world threatened the foundations of civilization. If this pattern persisted, he warned, an attack on the Western Hemisphere was inevitable.“The peace-loving nations,” Roosevelt advised, “must make a concerted effort in opposition to those violations of treaties and those ignorings of humane instincts which today are creating a state of international anarchy . . . from which there is no escape through mere isolation or neutrality.” Typical of his rhetoric, he used an analogy to propose an effective response: “When an epidemic of physical disease starts to spread, the community approves and joins in a quarantine of the patients in order to protect the health of the community against the spread of the disease.”
Roosevelt ended his address with a pledge to take every step possible to avert U.S. involvement in a conflict. Pacifists were not persuaded, charging that the president was taking the same path that led Americans to engage in World War I. A few isolationist members of Congress threatened impeachment if Roosevelt acted on his proposal. However, although the president had stressed the necessity for “positive endeavors to preserve peace,” he had given no specifics. The next day, a journalist pressed Roosevelt to clarify whether he was repudiating neutrality. Roosevelt’s response was indirect, but he later lamented how it was “a terrible thing to look over your shoulder when you are trying to lead—and to find no one there.”
Roosevelt announced a few days after his address that the United States would participate in a forthcoming conference that Japan also would attend. The League of Nations had proposed the meeting in response to the quarantine speech to discuss the war in China. U.S. threats of sanctions against aggressors did not occur until World War II began two years later.
Impact
After Roosevelt delivered his quarantine speech, many notable Americans and leading newspapers initially praised his leadership. However, isolationist criticism soon became intense. Roosevelt concluded that the American people were not ready to accept a greater international commitment that might lead to war. He thus refrained from following his quarantine speech with advocacy of forceful measures against Japan.
Bibliography
Dallek, Robert A. Franklin D. Roosevelt and American Foreign Policy, 1932-1945. New York: Oxford University Press, 1979.
Doenecke, Justus D., and Mark A. Stoler. Debating Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Foreign Policies, 1933-1945. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005.
Freidel, Frank. Roosevelt: His Rendezvous with Destiny. Boston: Little, Brown, 1990.
Marks, Frederick W., III. Wind over Sand: The Diplomacy of Franklin Roosevelt. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1988.