Franklin D. Roosevelt- " the Great Communicator" the Master Speech Files, 1898, 1910-1945
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Franklin D. Roosevelt- " The Great Communicator" The Master Speech Files, 1898, 1910-1945 Series 3: "The Four Freedoms" and FOR in World War II File No. 1520 1944 June 7 Toast of the President to Prime Minister Mikolajcyk of Poland I want to aay 11ow happy au or us t..ra to welcome vgain lunington the Prllc.a JJ1nhtar or Pol and. I tblnk: be h.u errhad hera at a •arr tood tiu, baoauea wa ba•a bean able to hft't'e, ..an to the one hour thla morning, a •ary frank talk about tbe future or Polend. •ttbln bla lU'atbla and atne wa ba'te aeon tne rebirth. In m:J boyhood and: bla, tt1ere waa no independent Poland. Arter be lett me tlJh morning, I bad brought to me a aariu or sixteen mapa, ahowl ns the map or Pol a nd beginning in 165). And 1t 1a rather an llll187.lng teat tbat during these inter· '¥ening yeua those sixteen mapa show , first and lest, that pr eo ttcal.ly all or Centr al :!urope waa a part or Poland •• tlrat c.ot lut. Therefore, it 1a rather cu.rrtcult to untangle the r.ap or the Poland wbiob •ery aoon we hope 1a going to ha•e ita own go't'ernmant back, 1e hope the events or the pe.at taw deya will reauJ.t in the liberation or an independent Poland , with it& own go•ernJnent and 1 ta own dtmooraoy. And yet we can' t so by hie tory, because it we ware to ta.lca one nation that I be.•• ln •lnd, Poland would include aoat or Ruaala, and a good part or Gar.&.DJ" , and Czeohoel o•atte . :a a r e not up to that t i.M J8t. \;a oan• t t alk about 1t ••en. ~Un I, llooe... u Ltwu,. Tbt • h • tr._rfpt •4• by U101 'fblt• aou.,. •t-n-ror•·~r rr- h'• ·~ notM tu.o:o•\ tll.•t oao ~. a~~t•.~rl 11« t•t•,"1'• •atot;q:O:ra; 'I .. rr•• utt,. J:r'll'lnd. ln ~romt!le•••AH• tte4 •ll•n tll• .-p h • , ~h tht~'f arpnP " U.• ",...,. ~ l'f preparH rel\41!'1~ J7'l tnt, • • 2 'e bi\YO got t.o do the praotlcal. tblna. J.nd that 1B wbllt the Prima Min late r and I he•a been taJ.k1ng about: the practical reatorat.lon or Polttnd aa a country whlob will be not merely aatr- sovernlng but aalf-llllllntalnlng, not mar~y with 1 ts own d~craoy , but &lao the w.lera·..,tthal to alee both anda aaet in food aM t"'e ooat ot lh'lng, I thin.lr. we are •• one on it. I think we hue a meetl.ng o! the ii:i.lnda aa to the prlno lplea end the daalraa or the future tor the people or Poland. And I hope some time •ery soon that atapa will be taken, by whloh the people or Poland and the ..ary l a.rga nation that Has t.o the aaat will becooa not merely good neighbors - that la e.n aaaant.ial - - but aleo two nations, one vary, Yery large and th other a good deal an."~ller , that will be able to work out a IIIUtUI!Il a oonomlo system by which there will be 00111plate independence on the ,port. or Poland . At. Telleran, I was ..-err glad to haTe ka.rabal Stalin aay, not oaoe but aev e r al t imes , that he dld not daa1ra Poland to be an appendaae or tbe Ruulan SoTlet. Republloe but abould, on the other hand, be a ooapletely aeU'- governll\8, l l'lrge and completely inclepondent nation. Therefore, wlth that. thought on the par t ot karahlll ~tl'llln, I tol"'llllld tba eon..-iction that e ltt1ng around the table and t.alkll\8 lt c·ur would do nobOdJ any hera, T.hat then can be a aeetlng or the alnda, leavl~ out t he allll.ller detaUe, auoh aa certain portion• ot whnt we call bo\U'Idarlea -- deterring them unt1l a somewhat later t l iiMI, when this new dleeaae l n Europe will be ara41oat.ed by the march or t l 111e. .. ) I tblnk or ahell- ahook. Three thout end •Uea away a good -111 people in the United .... tatea llave got ahall- llhock at the preaent time. It we were oloaa to the actual tlgbtlns , or 1t there were Carman troops in our •ldat, I e.a inclined to think that our ahall- abook would be a ereat deal worse. And eo aoce tblnga muat await the return or a word, wblob I nner liked and which e toJWOr Prealdeot used: nor~ralcr , 'lrilen \118 oan think rather !DOra quietly, and think 1n the longer tel'IZIIJ or what 1a going to happen, n ot next year or the year atter, or n•n ten yeera hence, but tltty yae..ra and a hundred yaara henoe. Ka go lM&ck in our relatione wlt.h Poland to wall onr 150 yeara ln our atruW.a tor independence. 'ie were •ary greatly hel ped by leadlog Poles -- wno oame Ot"er to help ua trOCII a eenea or juatloa, from a aenae or trying to help peopl e who were t rying to get aelr- expr esal on - - t he great l'ol1sb heroes who h-elped us ln our first r evolution. Through ell tbe yeer a we ba't'e watched a cbanglng h istory, ohanglng bou.r:r.c!ariea , cbanalng des .lana. I wsa 1107ing to thoe Prl• Klnht.er t.hat I so back to t.be last. oent.ury , when I traveled over a l arse pe.rt ot Europe on e bloyole , wlt.bout a passport. I na't'e.r carr ied a paaaport. And I came to e barrier aoroaa t he road , and a man oll.!l:.e out., J&wning, e.nct wented to koow Wbere I o•• tro.. and where I waa goine;. I told hla I was e.n Jl.aer loan; a nd he said, att.er a tew minut es ot e t ew, very simple questi ons, "Hn'Ye you got enough money to lha on?" .. I aa14, "Yea. I ha•e ten pounds on the band.lebara or my blo7ole." Thereupon, he waved me through the barrier, and aaid, '"Hope you have a good time. " Ther e waa a good deal or 1nter • ~Mrr1aga, lnterohensing ot idees and trtendablp batwec the nations o!' Europe than . Yet in the last tlttt yaa.ra that baa 11111 gone. It t a a Yer y aad tblng about Europe, that t hat ep1r1t. baa gone. I t haa beco:ae ao natlonalhtio. And ret we know there l a t.ha •ery gr eat., one or t he larger Europ ea n nations - - Pole.nd.. It 1a r iabt that they should continue to ba•e thelr ctw.pl et a lndapendenoa , and integrity, and the r ight aplrtt, beoeuse the spirit oounta mor a than almost a nything a lae, And ao the Prl oe Mlntatar and I hav e bean t e.lkll'l£ today - - and talk 8!&1n tQII)()rrow -- something about t he aplr1t. or the future or Europ~t , getting ••..,. ! r oc the :lara quaat.io ne ot wbet!ler tbh to.m wlll be on thia aida or t ba line or t hat aide or the line. There 1a e. bigger thing the.n tbet -- and I em sure the PriiiMt l.J:i n1ate r ae;reea with me -- it hi not Juat a ques tion or olen or or lanl1 o..merah1p , it 111 a quest ion or the popula t i on or Pol and. The Prt.e ~nlater baa alwaya worked , all b1a lite, tor the bealtb or the peopl e at the " bottom or the ba ap." There is a great deal to do for them , atlll more 1n t he t uture tha n in the J)6.8t. And yet we in this country r ecosniz.e the value or the Polish populatton , the thing that eoes ba ok t o hunlireds or yee.ra, .. ) the lnt.egrltJ or it, tbtl good citlzenabl p or it, the t act Ulat they a re not Polea lo tnle OOW'Itry a ny .ore, tbeJ are AmerloeM -- S...rlcana ot Pol tab deeoerlt., That la why tbey are eo ••r1 welooc.e wh.en they cane over here -- to become Americana. So I wa nt to say agein how very happy we are that the Prime L1 1n1Dter ha. came OYez· hare, and 1 hope he wUl come baolc , or t.hat we will go over there aDd meet with the ot her mabera at h.b go• erntMnt in London; and to • eat tbe Preeldent or Poland, whc. I baYe nn·er bad the pleaeure or close acqualntanoeehlp yet, but wbo, as bead of the nation, atlll does rejlreeent a lillie which baa been so weloa-e in Americ a , ·a are glad to have the Prime L.lnlste r wlth ua, and I want to dr ink -- we are all Ye,ry happy t o drin k - - to the health or the Preatdent or Poland , end tbrough blm the Prime Klnleter . (the Toast wa• drunk) .. 6 The lU".Pl.T or '!'he Prlm.e llinhter Of l'ole011 J£ enlj£jj.,:!~ ieb klr.