Question

What is Roosevelt’s purpose in the first paragraph of his speech

Answer 1

In the first paragraph of his speech, Roosevelt...

aimed to declare war on the Great Depression and needed all the executive latitude possible in order to wage that war.

Answer 2

In the first paragraph of his speech, Roosevelt tried to describe how the United States was being an innocent victim of unprovoked Japanese aggression.

Explanation:

Instead of saying that Japan had attacked the United States, Roosevelt emphasized America's status as a victim.

Roosevelt considered that the diplomatic negotiations between these two countries had been pursued dishonestly by the Japanese government while it was secretly preparing a war against the United States.