Archives of American Art

The above is a Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) painting, first printed in “The Saturday Evening Post” in 1943. It is part of a series of four oil paintings made in the same year. They were inspired by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1941 State of the Union, which has been come to be known as “The Four Freedoms.” An excerpt is printed below.

In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.

The first is freedom of speech and expression–everywhere in the world.

The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way–everywhere in the world.

The third is freedom from want–which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants-everywhere in the world.

The fourth is freedom from fear–which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor–anywhere in the world.