The Great Arsenal of Democracy: Power of Industry Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Sentence)

Quote #1

But the width of those oceans is not what it was in the days of clipper ships.... Why, even today, we have planes that could fly from the British Isles to New England and back again without refueling. (38, 41)

"It's A Small World After All" isn't just an annoying ride at Walt Disney World. As technology advanced, it became easier and easier to send people and information around the world in record time. When it comes to flying from JFK to Dublin in six hours, it's not such a bad thing.

However, when you're facing a real war with a bunch of power-hungry dictators, the outlook isn't so sunny. FDR knew that, even without deploying American troops overseas, U.S. industrial capabilities would play a huge role in the outcome of World War II.

Quote #2

And most important of all, the vast resources and wealth of this American hemisphere constitute the most tempting loot in all of the round world. (71)

The U.S. is big. Really, really big—we're talking more than 3 million square miles, and that's a lot of land filled with tons of natural resources.

Industry in this country has undoubtedly benefited from access to all that fun stuff, and it's what made the U.S. so capable of producing all the weapons and munitions the Allies needed to defeat the Axis. It also made the U.S. super attractive to the bad guys, who were dependent on other nations to get the supplies they needed, so FDR wanted to make sure the American people knew time was of the essence.

Quote #3

Guns, planes, ships and many other things have to be built in the factories and the arsenals of America. They have to be produced by workers and managers and engineers with the aid of machines, which in turn have to be built by hundreds of thousands of workers throughout the land. In this great work there has been splendid cooperation between the government and industry and labor. (151-153)

Especially at this moment in our history, with the Great Depression still super fresh in everyone's mind, FDR knew he needed to promise the American people that, if they gave their all in producing munitions and weapons for the war effort, the government would do everything possible to protect them. All people at all levels of industry and government need to work together, because that's what gave U.S. industry such an edge. FDR recognized the true power in manufacturing was in the workers and laborers who operated the machines, and he wanted those people to know they'd be taken care of.