Norman Rockwell illustrates FDR’s Four Freedoms for the Saturday Evening Post February 20 – March 12, 1943
On Jan. 6, 1941 FDR delivered his State of the Union address that came to be known as his Four Freedoms speech. FDR proposed the four fundamental freedoms that all individuals should enjoy – Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear.
FDR’s speech, delivered 11 months before Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, was his rationale for why the U.S. should abandon the isolationist policies. The speech coincided with the introduction of FDR’s Lend-Lease program and many anti-war supporters felt this speech was an attempt to rally public support for the war. Norman Rockwell, who was working on an image commissioned for the U.S. Army, decided he wanted to do more for the war effort and illustrate Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms. The Saturday Evening Post printed them in four consecutive issues, between February 4 and March 12, 1943.
Norman Rockwell’s hometown perspective of the four freedoms was a huge success and in May 1943 representatives from the Post magazine and the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced a campaign to sell war bonds. They sent Rockwell’s paintings to 16 cities where they were visited by over 1 million people who purchased nearly 133 million in war bonds and stamps.
To read more about the Four Freedoms visit:
https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2018/01/rockwells-four-freedoms-2/
Signature accomplishment: Norman Rockwell autographs posters of the Four Freedoms during a 16-city tour that reached more than a million people and raised $132 million for the war effort. (Courtesy Norman Rockwell Family Agency)