Modern

Franklin D. Roosevelt

1882–1945

President of the first inaugural

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself was March 4, 1933, with the banks closing. It is a rhetorical risk: he names the panic as the enemy so the other enemies can be worked on. He had practiced hiding a paralyzed body in order to be seen standing.

In the canon

  1. The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.First Inaugural Address

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