Authors:
Historic Era:
Historic Theme:
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December 1991 | Volume 42, Issue 8
Authors:
Historic Era:
Historic Theme:
Subject:
December 1991 | Volume 42, Issue 8
Something began at 7:50 A.M. (Hawaiian time), Sunday, December 7, 1941. Most Americans seemed convinced it was World War II. But one man wasn’t so sure. And because he happened to be President of the United States, a lot of brainpower was diverted to the practicalities of nomenclature.
Britons tended simply to say “the war,” and more formal Americans shunned “World War II” in favor of “the Second World War.” No unadorned common noun and neither cardinal nor ordinal numerical designations, however, could satisfy the free world’s acknowledged leader. He wanted something more expressive. This was an exceptional war; it demanded an exceptional name.
At his press conference of April 3, 1942, Franklin Roosevelt set forth stringent guidelines. The name must be short, he said, yet convey the idea this was a war to preserve democracy.
The reporters on hand naturally got first crack at trying. “War with the Axis Powers” received quick presidential rejection. Too cumbersome.
“Let’s call it ‘the Gips War,’” suggested a second reporter. Puzzled looks led to an explanation. “ G for Germany, I for Italy.…” No, that wouldn’t do either.
A third reporter pointed out that wars in progress don’t get lasting names. He had the Hundred Years’ War in mind. Roosevelt agreed, noting that anyone hearing of “the Revolution” in 1776 would surely have thought it meant the English Revolution of 1688. And no one needed to be reminded of how the Great War’s claim to that distinction had ended.
Nonetheless, the title search began immediately. Emil Schram, president of the New York Stock Exchange, offered “the Last World War.” Obviously this ignored the presidential guidelines. Rep. Sol Bloom, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, preferred “Your War.” Anna M. Rosenberg, regional director of the Social Security Board, thought of “Freedom’s War.” James Montgomery Flagg, whose finger-pointing Uncle Sam had become the previous war’s most famous recruiting poster, was torn between “Everybody’s War” and “Total War.” From Jack Dempsey came “Fight to Live.”
As one chief executive to another, Dr. Harold W. Dodds took issue with Roosevelt. The Princeton University president said, “World War II seems as good a name as any for the present. Its ultimate name will be given by history, not us.” He added, “You might call it ‘the war to save civilization,’ but civilization hasn’t had much saving so far.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer appointed a “Name-the-War editor” and conducted a contest for readers. At the White House suggestions soon began “flooding in at a great rate,” according to Press Secretary Stephen T. Early. Among them: “Four Freedoms War,” “Last Hun War,” “War to Save Humanity,” and “War Against Tyrants.” Isolationists chimed in with “Franklin’s Folly” and “the Meddler’s War.”
At first FDR tilted toward “the War for Survival,” but in mid-April 1942 the whatsit was still young. Distant precincts had yet to be heard from.
Nicaragua’s Noticia asked its readers for ideas presentable