FDR had the ‘Arsenal of Democracy.’ Hegseth has an ‘Arsenal of Freedom’

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When Franklin D. Roosevelt wanted Americans to join the fight against the axis of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Imperial Japan in 1940, without actually entering the war, he called on Americans to pivot their economy to equip democracies around the world.

“We must be the great arsenal of democracy,” Roosevelt said in a famous fireside chat, calling for a complete reordering of the US economy at breakneck pace. “For us this is an emergency as serious as war itself. We must apply ourselves to our task with the same resolution, the same sense of urgency, the same spirit of patriotism and sacrifice as we would show were we at war.”

FDR Fireside Chat 16: On the Arsenal of Democracy

Eighty-six years later, the United States is, again, not technically at war, but Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth is echoing the arsenal idea with a key a shift in word choice. The arsenal Hegseth is pitching in a series of speeches at defense contractors around the country is for “freedom” rather than “democracy.” He wants to reform the “defense-industrial base” and enable the Pentagon to buy weapons much faster.

In the past few weeks Hegseth talked rockets alongside Jeff Bezos at a Blue Origin facility. He talked about artificial intelligence alongside Elon Musk at a SpaceX facility in Texas. He’s talked about space in Los Angeles and Navy ships in Norfolk, Virignia.

But unlike Roosevelt’s call to build up arms, the Trump administration’s America First mindset is more focused on material gain for the US than on defending democracy in other countries.

After the US military snatched former Venezuelan leader Nicolas…

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