June 26, 1945
Mr. Chairman and Delegates to the United Nations Conference on International Organization:
I deeply regret that the press of circumstances when this Conference opened made it
impossible for me to be here to greet you in person. I have asked for the privilege of coming today,
to express on behalf of the people of the United States our thanks for what you have done here,
and to wish you Godspeed on your journeys home.
Somewhere in this broad country, every one of you can find some of our citizens who are sons and
daughters, or descendants in some degree, of your own native land. All our people are glad and
proud that this historic meeting and its accomplishments have taken place in our country. And that
includes the millions of loyal and patriotic Americans who stem from the countries not represented
at this Conference.
We are grateful to you for coming. We hope you have enjoyed your stay, and that you will come
again.
You assembled in San Francisco nine weeks ago with the high hope and confidence of
peace-loving people the world over.
Their confidence in you has been justified.
Their hope for your success has been fulfilled.
The Charter of the United Nations which you have just signed is a solid structure upon which we
can build a better world. History will honor you for it. Between the victory in Europe and the final
victory in Japan, in this most destructive of all wars, you have won a victory against war itself.
It was the hope of such a Charter that helped sustain the courage of stricken peoples through the
darkest days of the war. For it is a declaration of great faith by the nations of the earth--faith that
war is not inevitable, faith that peace can be maintained.
If we had had this Charter a few years ago-and above all, the will to use it--millions now dead
would be alive. If we should falter in the future in our will to use it, millions now living will surely
die.
It has already been said by many that this is only a first step to a lasting peace. That is true. The
important thing is that all our thinking and all our actions be based on the realization that it is in fact
only a first step. Let us all have it firmly in mind that we start today from a good beginning and,
with our eye always on the final objective, let us march forward.
The Constitution of my own country came from a Convention which--like this one--was made up
of delegates with many different views. Like this Charter, our Constitution came from a free and
sometimes bitter exchange of conflicting opinions. When it was adopted, no one regarded it as a
perfect document. But it grew and developed and expanded. And upon it there was built a bigger,
a better, a more perfect union.
This Charter, like our own Constitution, will be expanded and improved as time goes on. No one
claims that it is now a final or a perfect instrument. It has not been poured into any fixed mold.
Changing world conditions will require readjustments--but they will be the readjustments of peace
and not of war.
That we now have this Charter at all is a great wonder. It is also a cause for profound
thanksgiving to Almighty God, who has brought us so far in our search for peace through world
organization.
There were many who doubted that agreement could ever be reached by these fifty countries
differing so much in race and religion, in language and culture. But these differences were all
forgotten in one unshakable unity of determination--to find a way to end wars.
Out of all the arguments and disputes, and different points of view, a way was found to agree.
Here is the spotlight of full publicity, in the tradition of liberty-loving people, opinions were
expressed openly and freely. The faith and the hope of fifty peaceful nations were laid before this
world forum. Differences were overcome. This Charter was not the work of any single nation or
group of nations, large or small. It was the result of a spirit of give-and-take, of tolerance for the
views and interests of others.
It was proof that nations, like men, can state their differences, can face them, and then can find
common ground on which to stand. That is the essence of democracy; that is the essence of
keeping the peace in the future. By your agreement, the way was shown toward future agreement
in the years to come.
This Conference owes its success largely to the fact that you have kept your minds firmly on the
main objective. You-had the single job of writing a constitution--a charter for peace. And you
stayed on that job.
In spite of the many distractions which came to you in the form of daily problems and disputes
about such matters as new boundaries, control of Germany, peace settlements, reparations, war
criminals, the form of government of some of the European countries--in spite of all these, you
continued in the task of framing this document.
Those problems and scores of others, which will arise, are all difficult. They are
complicated. They are controversial and dangerous.
But with united spirit we met and solved even more difficult problems during the war. And with the
same spirit, if we keep to our principles and never forsake our objectives, the problems we now
face and those to come will also be solved.
We have tested the principle of cooperation in this war and have found that it works. Through the
pooling of resources, through joint and combined military command, through constant staff
meetings, we have shown what united strength can do in war. That united strength forced
Germany to surrender. United strength will force Japan to surrender.
The United Nations have also had experience, even while the fighting was still going on, in
reaching economic agreements for times of peace. What was done on the subject of relief at
Atlantic City, food at Hot Springs, finance at Bretton Woods, aviation at Chicago, was a fair test of
what can be done by nations determined to live cooperatively in a world where they cannot live
peacefully any other way.
What you have accomplished in San Francisco shows how well these lessons of military and
economic cooperation have been learned. You have created a great instrument for peace and
security and human progress in the world.
The world must now use it!
If we fail to use it, we shall betray all those who have died in order that we might meet here in
freedom and safety to create it.
If we seek to use it selfishly--for the advantage of any one nation or any small group of
nations--we shall be equally guilty of that betrayal.
The successful use of this instrument will require the united will and firm determination of the free
peoples who have created it. The job will tax the moral strength and fibre of us all.
We all have to recognize-no matter how great our strength--that we must deny ourselves the
license to do always as we please. No one nation, no regional group, can or should expect, any
special privilege which harms any other nation. If any nation would keep security for itself, it must
be ready and willing to share security with all. That is the price which each nation will have to pay
for world peace. Unless we are all willing to pay that price, no organization for world peace can
accomplish its purpose.
And what a reasonable price that is!
Out of this conflict have come powerful military nations, now fully trained and equipped for war.
But they have no right to dominate the world. It is rather the duty of these powerful nations to
assume the responsibility for leadership toward a world of peace. That is why we have here
resolved that power and strength shall be used not to wage war, but to keep the world at peace,
and free from the fear of war.
By their own example the strong nations of the world should lead the way to international justice.
That principle of justice is the foundation stone of this Charter. That principle is the guiding spirit by
which it must be carried out--not by words alone but by continued concrete acts of good will.
There is a time for making plans--and there is a time for action. The time for action is now! Let us,
therefore, each in his own nation and according to its own way, seek immediate approval of this
Charter-and make it a living thing.
I shall send this Charter to the United States Senate at once. I am sure that the overwhelming
sentiment of the people of my country and of their representatives in the Senate is in favor of
immediate ratification.
A just and lasting peace cannot be attained by diplomatic agreement alone, or by military
cooperation alone. Experience has shown how deeply the seeds of war are planted by economic
rivalry and by social injustice. The Charter recognizes this fact for it has provided for economic
and social cooperation as well. It has provided for this cooperation as part of the very heart of the
entire compact.
It has set up machinery of international cooperation which men and nations of good will can use to
help correct economic and social causes for conflict.
Artificial and uneconomic trade barriers should be removed--to the end that the standard of living
of as many people as possible throughout the world may be raised. For Freedom from Want is one
of the basic Four Freedoms toward which we all strive. The large and powerful nations of the
world must assume leadership in this economic field as in all others.
Under this document we have good reason to expect the framing of an international bill of rights,
acceptable to all the nations involved. That bill of rights will be as much a part of international life
as our own Bill of Rights is a part of our Constitution. The Charter is dedicated to the achievement
and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Unless we can attain those objectives
for all men and women everywhere--without regard to race, language or religion-we cannot have
permanent peace and security.
With this Charter the world can begin to look forward to the time when all worthy human beings
may be permitted to live decently as free people.
The world has learned again that nations, like individuals, must know the truth if they would be
free--must read and hear the truth, learn and teach the truth.
We must set up an effective agency for constant and thorough interchange of thought and ideas.
For there lies the road to a better and more tolerant understanding among nations and among
peoples.
All Fascism did not die with Mussolini. Hitler is finished--but the seeds spread by his disordered
mind have firm root in too many fanatical brains. It is easier to remove tyrants and destroy
concentration camps than it is to kill the ideas which gave them birth and strength. Victory on the
battlefield was essential, but it was not enough. For a good peace, a lasting peace, the decent
peoples of the earth must remain determined to strike down the evil spirit which has hung over the
world for the last decade.
The forces of reaction and tyranny all over the world will try to keep the United Nations from
remaining united. Even while the military machine of the Axis was being destroyed in Europe-even
down to its very end--they still tried to divide us.
They failed. But they will try again.
They are trying even now. To divide and conquer was--and still is--their plan. They still try to
make one Ally suspect the other, hate the other, desert the other.
But I know I speak for every one of you when I say that the United Nations will remain united.
They will not be divided by propaganda either before the Japanese surrender--or after.
This occasion shows again the continuity of history.
By this Charter, you have given reality to the ideal of that great statesman of a generation
ago--Woodrow Wilson.
By this Charter, you have moved toward the goal for which that gallant leader in this second world
struggle worked and fought and gave his life--Franklin D. Roosevelt.
By this Charter, you have realized the objectives of many men of vision in your own countries who
have devoted their lives to the cause of world organization for peace.
Upon all of us, in all our countries, is now laid the duty of transforming into action these words
which you have written. Upon our decisive action rests the hope of those who have fallen, those
now living, those yet unborn--the hope for a world of free countries--with decent standards of
living--which will work and cooperate in a friendly civilized community of nations.
This new structure of peace is rising upon strong foundations.
Let us not fail to grasp this supreme chance to establish a world-wide rule of reason--to create an
enduring peace under the guidance of God.
NOTE: The President spoke at the Opera House in San Francisco. His opening words "Mr.
Chairman" referred to Secretary of State Edward R. Stettinius, who served as president of the
Conference and as chairman of the U.S. delegation.
Mr. Chairman and Delegates to the United Nations Conference on International Organization:
I deeply regret that the press of circumstances when this Conference opened made it
impossible for me to be here to greet you in person. I have asked for the privilege of coming today,
to express on behalf of the people of the United States our thanks for what you have done here,
and to wish you Godspeed on your journeys home.
Somewhere in this broad country, every one of you can find some of our citizens who are sons and
daughters, or descendants in some degree, of your own native land. All our people are glad and
proud that this historic meeting and its accomplishments have taken place in our country. And that
includes the millions of loyal and patriotic Americans who stem from the countries not represented
at this Conference.
We are grateful to you for coming. We hope you have enjoyed your stay, and that you will come
again.
You assembled in San Francisco nine weeks ago with the high hope and confidence of
peace-loving people the world over.
Their confidence in you has been justified.
Their hope for your success has been fulfilled.
The Charter of the United Nations which you have just signed is a solid structure upon which we
can build a better world. History will honor you for it. Between the victory in Europe and the final
victory in Japan, in this most destructive of all wars, you have won a victory against war itself.
It was the hope of such a Charter that helped sustain the courage of stricken peoples through the
darkest days of the war. For it is a declaration of great faith by the nations of the earth--faith that
war is not inevitable, faith that peace can be maintained.
If we had had this Charter a few years ago-and above all, the will to use it--millions now dead
would be alive. If we should falter in the future in our will to use it, millions now living will surely
die.
It has already been said by many that this is only a first step to a lasting peace. That is true. The
important thing is that all our thinking and all our actions be based on the realization that it is in fact
only a first step. Let us all have it firmly in mind that we start today from a good beginning and,
with our eye always on the final objective, let us march forward.
The Constitution of my own country came from a Convention which--like this one--was made up
of delegates with many different views. Like this Charter, our Constitution came from a free and
sometimes bitter exchange of conflicting opinions. When it was adopted, no one regarded it as a
perfect document. But it grew and developed and expanded. And upon it there was built a bigger,
a better, a more perfect union.
This Charter, like our own Constitution, will be expanded and improved as time goes on. No one
claims that it is now a final or a perfect instrument. It has not been poured into any fixed mold.
Changing world conditions will require readjustments--but they will be the readjustments of peace
and not of war.
That we now have this Charter at all is a great wonder. It is also a cause for profound
thanksgiving to Almighty God, who has brought us so far in our search for peace through world
organization.
There were many who doubted that agreement could ever be reached by these fifty countries
differing so much in race and religion, in language and culture. But these differences were all
forgotten in one unshakable unity of determination--to find a way to end wars.
Out of all the arguments and disputes, and different points of view, a way was found to agree.
Here is the spotlight of full publicity, in the tradition of liberty-loving people, opinions were
expressed openly and freely. The faith and the hope of fifty peaceful nations were laid before this
world forum. Differences were overcome. This Charter was not the work of any single nation or
group of nations, large or small. It was the result of a spirit of give-and-take, of tolerance for the
views and interests of others.
It was proof that nations, like men, can state their differences, can face them, and then can find
common ground on which to stand. That is the essence of democracy; that is the essence of
keeping the peace in the future. By your agreement, the way was shown toward future agreement
in the years to come.
This Conference owes its success largely to the fact that you have kept your minds firmly on the
main objective. You-had the single job of writing a constitution--a charter for peace. And you
stayed on that job.
In spite of the many distractions which came to you in the form of daily problems and disputes
about such matters as new boundaries, control of Germany, peace settlements, reparations, war
criminals, the form of government of some of the European countries--in spite of all these, you
continued in the task of framing this document.
Those problems and scores of others, which will arise, are all difficult. They are
complicated. They are controversial and dangerous.
But with united spirit we met and solved even more difficult problems during the war. And with the
same spirit, if we keep to our principles and never forsake our objectives, the problems we now
face and those to come will also be solved.
We have tested the principle of cooperation in this war and have found that it works. Through the
pooling of resources, through joint and combined military command, through constant staff
meetings, we have shown what united strength can do in war. That united strength forced
Germany to surrender. United strength will force Japan to surrender.
The United Nations have also had experience, even while the fighting was still going on, in
reaching economic agreements for times of peace. What was done on the subject of relief at
Atlantic City, food at Hot Springs, finance at Bretton Woods, aviation at Chicago, was a fair test of
what can be done by nations determined to live cooperatively in a world where they cannot live
peacefully any other way.
What you have accomplished in San Francisco shows how well these lessons of military and
economic cooperation have been learned. You have created a great instrument for peace and
security and human progress in the world.
The world must now use it!
If we fail to use it, we shall betray all those who have died in order that we might meet here in
freedom and safety to create it.
If we seek to use it selfishly--for the advantage of any one nation or any small group of
nations--we shall be equally guilty of that betrayal.
The successful use of this instrument will require the united will and firm determination of the free
peoples who have created it. The job will tax the moral strength and fibre of us all.
We all have to recognize-no matter how great our strength--that we must deny ourselves the
license to do always as we please. No one nation, no regional group, can or should expect, any
special privilege which harms any other nation. If any nation would keep security for itself, it must
be ready and willing to share security with all. That is the price which each nation will have to pay
for world peace. Unless we are all willing to pay that price, no organization for world peace can
accomplish its purpose.
And what a reasonable price that is!
Out of this conflict have come powerful military nations, now fully trained and equipped for war.
But they have no right to dominate the world. It is rather the duty of these powerful nations to
assume the responsibility for leadership toward a world of peace. That is why we have here
resolved that power and strength shall be used not to wage war, but to keep the world at peace,
and free from the fear of war.
By their own example the strong nations of the world should lead the way to international justice.
That principle of justice is the foundation stone of this Charter. That principle is the guiding spirit by
which it must be carried out--not by words alone but by continued concrete acts of good will.
There is a time for making plans--and there is a time for action. The time for action is now! Let us,
therefore, each in his own nation and according to its own way, seek immediate approval of this
Charter-and make it a living thing.
I shall send this Charter to the United States Senate at once. I am sure that the overwhelming
sentiment of the people of my country and of their representatives in the Senate is in favor of
immediate ratification.
A just and lasting peace cannot be attained by diplomatic agreement alone, or by military
cooperation alone. Experience has shown how deeply the seeds of war are planted by economic
rivalry and by social injustice. The Charter recognizes this fact for it has provided for economic
and social cooperation as well. It has provided for this cooperation as part of the very heart of the
entire compact.
It has set up machinery of international cooperation which men and nations of good will can use to
help correct economic and social causes for conflict.
Artificial and uneconomic trade barriers should be removed--to the end that the standard of living
of as many people as possible throughout the world may be raised. For Freedom from Want is one
of the basic Four Freedoms toward which we all strive. The large and powerful nations of the
world must assume leadership in this economic field as in all others.
Under this document we have good reason to expect the framing of an international bill of rights,
acceptable to all the nations involved. That bill of rights will be as much a part of international life
as our own Bill of Rights is a part of our Constitution. The Charter is dedicated to the achievement
and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Unless we can attain those objectives
for all men and women everywhere--without regard to race, language or religion-we cannot have
permanent peace and security.
With this Charter the world can begin to look forward to the time when all worthy human beings
may be permitted to live decently as free people.
The world has learned again that nations, like individuals, must know the truth if they would be
free--must read and hear the truth, learn and teach the truth.
We must set up an effective agency for constant and thorough interchange of thought and ideas.
For there lies the road to a better and more tolerant understanding among nations and among
peoples.
All Fascism did not die with Mussolini. Hitler is finished--but the seeds spread by his disordered
mind have firm root in too many fanatical brains. It is easier to remove tyrants and destroy
concentration camps than it is to kill the ideas which gave them birth and strength. Victory on the
battlefield was essential, but it was not enough. For a good peace, a lasting peace, the decent
peoples of the earth must remain determined to strike down the evil spirit which has hung over the
world for the last decade.
The forces of reaction and tyranny all over the world will try to keep the United Nations from
remaining united. Even while the military machine of the Axis was being destroyed in Europe-even
down to its very end--they still tried to divide us.
They failed. But they will try again.
They are trying even now. To divide and conquer was--and still is--their plan. They still try to
make one Ally suspect the other, hate the other, desert the other.
But I know I speak for every one of you when I say that the United Nations will remain united.
They will not be divided by propaganda either before the Japanese surrender--or after.
This occasion shows again the continuity of history.
By this Charter, you have given reality to the ideal of that great statesman of a generation
ago--Woodrow Wilson.
By this Charter, you have moved toward the goal for which that gallant leader in this second world
struggle worked and fought and gave his life--Franklin D. Roosevelt.
By this Charter, you have realized the objectives of many men of vision in your own countries who
have devoted their lives to the cause of world organization for peace.
Upon all of us, in all our countries, is now laid the duty of transforming into action these words
which you have written. Upon our decisive action rests the hope of those who have fallen, those
now living, those yet unborn--the hope for a world of free countries--with decent standards of
living--which will work and cooperate in a friendly civilized community of nations.
This new structure of peace is rising upon strong foundations.
Let us not fail to grasp this supreme chance to establish a world-wide rule of reason--to create an
enduring peace under the guidance of God.
NOTE: The President spoke at the Opera House in San Francisco. His opening words "Mr.
Chairman" referred to Secretary of State Edward R. Stettinius, who served as president of the
Conference and as chairman of the U.S. delegation.