Fact Check: Yes, FDR warned of 'selfish men who would clip the wings of the American eagle in order to feather their own nests'
Claim:
Former U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt said, "We must especially beware of that small group of selfish men who would clip the wings of the American eagle in order to feather their own nests."
Rating:
A rumor that circulated online in early 2025 claimed former U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt said, "We must especially beware of that small group of selfish men who would clip the wings of the American eagle in order to feather their own nests."
For example, on Feb. 15, author, professor and former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich posted the quote on Bluesky. The next day, he shared it on Facebook, Threads and X. Days later, in a Feb. 21 Instagram post, he posted it once more, adding a caption referencing President Donald Trump's second administration. The caption read, "A warning that sadly rings as true today as it did back then." In past years, Snopes readers also asked in emails about the authenticity of the quote.
According to numerous historical records, Roosevelt indeed once warned, "We must especially beware of that small group of selfish men who would clip the wings of the American eagle in order to feather their own nests."
Reich published the quote on his social media accounts after railing against Trump, his government efficiency adviser, tech billionaire Elon Musk, and Vice President JD Vance, in a series of Substack articles. Reich asserted that Trump, Musk, Vance and other members of the administration had participated in a coup to enrich themselves financially in the pursuit of an oligarchy.
Weeks later, Reich marked the end of Trump's first 100 days with an article The Guardian published, reading, "If leaders stay silent, the U.S. won't survive Trump's next 100 days."
Reich had not yet responded to an emailed request for comment as of the time of publication, including additional thoughts he might have both on Roosevelt's usage of the quote and what the words meant to him more than two-and-a-half months later. The White House had also not yet replied to an email asking for comment on Reich's usage of the quote and the outlined claims from Reich's articles.
Roosevelt delivered the in-question quote just days before beginning his third term, during his now-famous "Four Freedoms" speech, originally a State of the Union address, on Jan. 6, 1941. As proof of the quote's authenticity, at least dozens of newspapers published on the same day featured the line from his speech. The U.S. National Archives hosts a webpage with a transcript of Roosevelt's full address, including the following introduction:
In his 1941 State of the Union address to Congress, with World War II underway in Europe and the Pacific, FDR asked the American people to work hard to produce armaments for the democracies of Europe, to pay higher taxes, and to make other wartime sacrifices. Roosevelt presented his reasons for American involvement, making the case for continued aid to Great Britain and greater production of war industries at home. In helping Britain, President Roosevelt stated, the United States was fighting for the universal freedoms that all people deserved.
At a time when Western Europe lay under Nazi domination, Roosevelt presented a vision in which the American ideals of individual liberties should be extended throughout the world. Alerting Congress and the nation to the necessity of war, Roosevelt articulated the ideological aims of the war, and appealed to Americans' most profound beliefs about freedom.
In his "Four Freedoms" speech, Roosevelt proposed four fundamental freedoms that all people should have. His "four essential human freedoms" included some phrases already familiar to Americans from the Bill of Rights, as well as some new phrases: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear. These symbolized America's war aims and gave the American people a mantra to hold onto during the war.
Roosevelt's speech forcefully opposed isolationism and proposed a "swift and driving increase in our armament production" to support British forces. Later in the address, he voiced his opposition to dictators — the moment Reich would highlight more than 84 years later:
Therefore, as your President, performing my constitutional duty to "give to the Congress information of the state of the Union," I find it, unhappily, necessary to report that the future and the safety of our country and of our democracy are overwhelmingly involved in events far beyond our borders.
Armed defense of democratic existence is now being gallantly waged in four continents. If that defense fails, all the population and all the resources of Europe, Asia, Africa and Australasia will be dominated by the conquerors. Let us remember that the total of those populations and their resources in those four continents greatly exceeds the sum total of the population and the resources of the whole of the Western Hemisphere-many times over.
In times like these it is immature--and incidentally, untrue--for anybody to brag that an unprepared America, single-handed, and with one hand tied behind its back, can hold off the whole world.
No realistic American can expect from a dictator's peace international generosity, or return of true independence, or world disarmament, or freedom of expression, or freedom of religion -or even good business.
Such a peace would bring no security for us or for our neighbors. "Those, who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."
As a nation, we may take pride in the fact that we are softhearted; but we cannot afford to be soft-headed.
We must always be wary of those who with sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal preach the "ism" of appeasement.
We must especially beware of that small group of selfish men who would clip the wings of the American eagle in order to feather their own nests.
I have recently pointed out how quickly the tempo of modern warfare could bring into our very midst the physical attack which we must eventually expect if the dictator nations win this war.
Eleven months and one day later — on Dec. 7, 1941 — the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, then a U.S. territory. On the next day, Roosevelt delivered a speech before Congress in which he famously called the attacks "a day which will live in infamy" and declared war on Japan.
Congress approved Roosevelt's request by a vote of 388-1 in the House and 82-0 in the Senate. U.S. Rep. Jeannette Rankin, R-Mont., a dedicated pacifist and the first woman elected to Congress, cast the only vote against the declaration of war.
"About." Robert Reich, https://rbreich.com/about.
"Driving Increase in Armaments Demanded by President." Reno Evening Gazette via The Associated Press, 6 Jan. 1941, p. 6, https://www.newspapers.com/image/147116315/.
"Full Text of President's Address." Brooklyn Eagle, 6 Jan. 1941, p. 2, https://www.newspapers.com/image/52627608/.
"Jeannette Rankin." U.S. House of Representatives, History, Art & Archives, https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/R/RANKIN,-Jeannette-(R000055)/.
"On This Day, Jeannette Rankin's History-Making Moment." National Constitution Center, 2 Apr. 2024, https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/on-this-day-jeanette-rankins-history-making-moment.
"Pearl Harbor Attack | Date, History, Map, Casualties, Timeline, & Facts." Britannica, 21 Apr. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/event/Pearl-Harbor-attack.
"President Franklin Roosevelt's Annual Message (Four Freedoms) to Congress (1941)." National Archives, Milestone Documents, 6 Jan. 1941, https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/president-franklin-roosevelts-annual-message-to-congress.
"President Says U.S. Must Give More British Aid." Stockton Daily Evening Record via The Associated Press, 6 Jan. 1941, p. 4, https://www.newspapers.com/image/843777184/.
Reich, Robert. "Fraud and Musk." Robert Reich, 12 Feb. 2025, https://robertreich.substack.com/p/fraud.
---. "If Leaders Stay Silent, the US Won't Survive Trump's next 100 Days." The Guardian, 30 Apr. 2025. The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/apr/30/trump-next-100-days.
---. "Say What This Is: A Coup." Robert Reich, 14 Feb. 2025, https://robertreich.substack.com/p/say-what-it-is-a-coup.
"Robert B. Reich." University of California, Berkeley, Goldman School of Public Policy, https://gspp.berkeley.edu/research-and-impact/faculty/robert-reich.
"Senate Count Is 82-0, House 388 to 1 after Roosevelt's Message." Buffalo Evening News via The Associated Press, 8 Dec. 1941, p. 1, https://www.newspapers.com/image/841261940/.
"S.J. Res. 116, Declaration of War on Japan, December 8, 1941." U.S. Capitol - Visitor Center, https://www.visitthecapitol.gov/artifact/sj-res-116-declaration-war-japan-december-8-1941. Accessed 1 May 2025.
"Text of Roosevelt's Message to Congress." Des Moines Tribune, 6 Jan. 1941, p. 4, https://www.newspapers.com/image/323240060/.
"World War II Facts." FDR Presidential Library & Museum, https://www.fdrlibrary.org/wwii-facts.
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