United States House of Representatives: History, Art, & Archives
Search the website

Declaration of War Against Japan

Declaration of War Against Japan/tiles/collection/3/31778.xml
Declaration of War Against Japan/tiles/collection/3/31777.xml
Previous Next

Date

1941-12-08

Maker

International News Photos

Dimensions

5 7/8 x 7 5/16 in. (14.9 x 18.6 cm)

Accession Number

2008.130.012

Credit Line

Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives

Object Details

On December 8, 1941, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt asked a Joint Session of Congress to declare war against Japan in response to the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. In his remarks, the president assured Members of Congress and the American people, “With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph. So help us God.” The vote to go to war was nearly unanimous, with pacifist Jeannette Rankin’s as the lone dissenting voice.

Rights and Reproduction Information

Jump To

View Related Objects

Jeannette Rankin
Jeannette Rankin

View Related Oral History

U.S. Declarations of War in 1941

Download
View details

View a documentary featuring former House Reading Clerk Irving Swanson remembering the U.S. declarations of war in 1941, accompanied by historical audio and video footage.

Irving Swanson, Reading Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives
Interview recorded July 13, 2005 – Deed of Gift

The House Floor on December 8, 1941

Download
View details

Recollections of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s "Day of Infamy" speech.

Myles Garrigan, Page, U.S. House of Representatives
Interview recorded May 25, 2012 – Deed of Gift
Transcript (PDF)
Office of the Historian: history@mail.house.gov
Office of Art & Archives, Office of the Clerk: art@mail.house.gov, archives@mail.house.gov