When FDR Warned That Tyranny Begins by Silencing Religion
Our American Stories
iHeartPodcasts
4.6 • 816 Ratings
🗓️ 17 March 2026
⏱️ 8 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode of Our American Stories, in his 1939 State of the Union address, President Franklin D. Roosevelt warned that attacks on religion often appear alongside attacks on democracy itself.
Speaking at a time when authoritarian regimes were rising overseas, Roosevelt argued that freedom of religion and political liberty were closely connected. Our American Stories’ own Lee Habeeb shares the story behind this powerful presidential address and the warning FDR delivered about threats to free societies.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:02.5 | Guaranteed Human. |
| 0:14.0 | This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories, the show where America is the star and the American people, coming to you |
| 0:22.4 | from the city where the West begins, Fort Worth, Texas. |
| 0:26.3 | And we love whenever we can to take you back in time to important moments in American life, |
| 0:32.4 | from war to peace, from our great triumphs to our great tragedies too. |
| 0:37.3 | Today we take you back to January of 1939 |
| 0:40.2 | and to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's sixth State of the Union address. |
| 0:46.0 | He gave ten altogether more than any American president. |
| 0:49.9 | Roosevelt had a lot on his mind that evening as he spoke not just to Congress, |
| 0:53.5 | but the nation through the radio. |
| 0:56.6 | It was only months since Germany had annexed Austria, and storm clouds loomed over Europe. |
| 1:03.0 | Adolf Hitler's ambitions were not ambiguous for anyone with eyes to see and ears to hear. |
| 1:08.8 | It was into this background, |
| 1:12.2 | and with a serious purpose, |
| 1:15.0 | that FDR began his speech. |
| 1:17.7 | Mr. Vice President, |
| 1:19.9 | Mr. Speaker, |
| 1:23.4 | members of the 76th Congress, |
| 1:34.6 | in reporting on the state of the nation, I have felt it necessary on previous occasions to advise the Congress of disturbance abroad and of the need of putting our own house in order |
| 1:43.8 | in the face of storm signals from across the seas. |
| 1:49.0 | As this 76th Congress opens, there is need for further warning. |
... |
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