Robert Torricelli: “almost 60 years ago, President Roosevelt, in his State of the Union Address, challenged the American people to not…”

“almost 60 years ago, President Roosevelt, in his State of the Union Address, challenged the American people to not simply be content with our own freedom or our own economic progress but to fight for what he called, a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. He described them as the freedom of speech and expression, the freedom of every person to worship God as he sees him in his own heart, freedom from want, and freedom from fear of attack and aggression anywhere in the world. There was a sense of immediacy to President Roosevelt's remarks. He reminds us that these were not simply distant hopes for another time, but in his words, ``It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation.'' The world we live in, Mr. President, is largely the fulfillment of his vision on that day. After two world wars and a long-enduring cold war, we live in a time where democratic values have become common, markets are open, the rule of law governs the many nations of the globe. From South Africa to the former Soviet Union, across Latin America, freedom--free markets and free expression--have become the common coin of the realm in our time. But because these values are succeeding does not mean that they have met any final triumph. We have been reminded that in the fight for human freedom, there is no final victory.”