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Franklin D. Roosevelt's Psychological Contribution To The United Nations, Richard E. D. Schwartz

Syracuse Journal of International Law and Commerce

FDR promoted U.S. participation in the United Nations in several ways. In this article I focus on his use of mass communication to reach individuals and families in the U.S. In his ''fireside chats, " he empathically addressed widely experienced problems and then proposed solutions requiring publicly supported governmental actions. In his first term, that technique gained Roosevelt popular support for the New Deal programs. In his second term, FDR turned the nation's attention to the international situation, drawing on the motivations he had earlier tapped. In the 1940 election, both major parties chose internationalist candidates, and Roosevelt was able …