Pearl Harbor Address Quotes

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Source: Pearl Harbor Address

Speaker: Franklin D. Roosevelt

"A date which will live in infamy"

Yesterday, December 7th, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. 

Context

This line was spoken on December 8th, 1941, at the beginning of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Pearl Harbor address.

On December 7th, 1941, a "date which will live in infamy," Japan dropped a bunch of bombs straight to Pearl Harbor, killing 2,280 people and, as announced by FDR the next day, prompting the United States' entry into World War II.

It also set a precedent for the second bombing of Pearl Harbor sixty years later...completed by Michael Bay and Ben Affleck. 

Where you've heard it

Heard of World War II? 

December 7th is now known as "National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day."

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

The pretentious factor here depends on whether you believe, like some people, that FDR had knowledge of the Pearl Harbor attacks and did nothing to stop it…or if you believe those people are crackpots.