FDR's Four Freedoms

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Archive on 4: FDR's Four Freedoms

BBC Radio 4 - Archive on 4, FDR's Four Freedoms

Professor David Reynolds on what Roosevelt's Four Freedoms speech means today.

Could the US - or the world - ever live up to the lofty ideals expressed in Roosevelt's Four Freedoms speech?

In January 1941, American President Franklin D Roosevelt delivered an epic speech about the Four Freedoms that he believed to be vital for the post-war world:  freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from fear and freedom from want. These words became the basis for a global understanding of “human rights” and they also shed light on how the United States viewed itself and its global role at the dawn of the so-called "American Century." 

But could the US really live up to such lofty ideals? Do those four freedoms remain relevant as a goal for the international community? Or do they need to be reimagined for our own century?

With help from contributors such as FDR's grandson, James Roosevelt, as well as former UN Human Rights Commissioner, Zeid Ra'Ad Al Hussein, Cambridge Professor of International History David Reynolds examines the genesis of the speech, its immediate impact, and its far-reaching consequences.

Presenter: David Reynolds
Producer: Claire Bowes and Sandra Kanthal
Editor: Clare Fordham
Studio Manager: Rod Farquhar 
Production Coordinators: Maria Ogundele and Helena Warwick-Cross

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