I ended yesterday’s #stampoftheday post by asking “What were they thinking?” when they issued a stamp celebrating the forced relocation of Native Americans.

Today, however, it’s clear “what they were thinking” when the Post Office issued three “National Defense” stamps on October 16, 1940 (which is why the stamps are today’s #stampoftheday).

“They” – particularly President Franklin Roosevelt – wanted to make sure we were ready to fight against Nazis in Germany and Fascists in Italy and that we could legally aid those already engaged in that fight, particularly Great Britain, which badly needed American military aid. However, many Americans still thought we could and should not get involved in another European war.

In fall 1939, after the Nazis invaded Poland and Britain and France had declared war on Germany, Roosevelt was able to convince Congress to lift a ban on all arms sales to warring nations and reinstate a “cash-and-carry” provision allowing warring countries to buy arms if they paid in advance and did not transport the weapons on American-flagged ships. However, in the summer of 1940, as the situation became more dire in Europe, Roosevelt and others wanted to go further and not only provide more aid to Great Britain but also to begin strengthening the Army and the Navy for conflicts were starting to seem inevitable.

Roosevelt, who was running for an unprecedented third term, began to speak more openly and directly about the threats that required such actions. For example, in June 1940, in a commencement address given at the University of Virginia, he said:

“Every generation of young men and women in America has questions to ask the world. Most of the time they are the simple but nevertheless difficult…questions of work to do, opportunities to find, ambitions to satisfy. But every now and again…a different kind of question presents itself—a question that asks, not about the future of an individual or even of a generation, but about the future of the country….”

“There is such a time again today,” he continued, before adding “the young men and the young women of America” are asking ‘what is to become of the country we know?'”

Over the course of the summer and early fall, Roosevelt led successful efforts to pass legislation that strengthened U.S. defenses by raising taxes, increasing the national debt limits, and starting America’s first peacetime draft.

Roosevelt, who was an avid stamp collector, also made stamps part of the effort to build and sustain public support for these initiatives. To do so, he not only ordered the Post Office to issue three new defense-oriented stamps, he also made pencil sketches of what the stamps should portray.

The final designs, which Roosevelt personally approved, followed his basic ideas. All three stamps had the phrase “In Defense” and each said “United States of America” (instead of “U.S. Postage,” the phrase that usually appeared on stamps). The 1-cent stamp portrayed the Statue of Liberty and had the words “Industry” and “Agriculture”. The 2-cent stamp showed the War Department’s new 90-millimeter anti-aircraft gun and had the words “Army” and “Navy”. And the 3-cent stamp showed the “Torch of Enlightenment” and had the words “Security”, “Education”, “Conservation” and “Health”.

The new stamps were issued on October 16, 1940, the day that millions of Americans first had to (and did) register for the draft. In addition, the Post Office Department informed postmasters that until further notice these would be the primary stamps being offered for sale. In keeping with this policy, the Post Office issued only one more stamp in 1940 and one new stamp in all of 1941.

Over the next two years the Post Office issued more than 8 billion “Torch of Enlightenment” 3-cent stamps, which was the nation’s primary stamp for first-class mail until it was replaced by a 3-cent “Win the War” stamp on July 4, 1942. In total, the Post Office issued almost 20 billion “For Defense” stamps, more than any previous series in its history.

I have no idea if the stamps really helped build support for the policies that Roosevelt described in his June 1940 speech. I do know that while the bulk of the speech is about the events of that time, its opening and closing paragraphs are surprisingly salient today.

As he prepared to end his remarks, Roosevelt returned to the speech’s opening themes, warning that “once more the future of the nation and of the American people is at stake.” He then not only promised to respond but also asserted that in doing so “we need not and we will not, in any way, abandon our continuing effort to make democracy work within our borders.” Moreover, he added, we will “still insist on the need for vast improvements in our own social and economic life.”

Coming to a close, he reiterated his call to provide more support for those fighting for freedom abroad and to build up defenses at home. These efforts, he conceded, would require “courage, sacrifice, [and] devotion” but, he asserted in his conclusion, they would succeed because “the love of freedom is still fierce and steady in the nation today.”

Today, many people are again asking “What is to become of the country we know?”

I both hope and believe that because “the love of freedom is still fierce and steady” we will again find ways forward that not only “make democracy work” but, hopefully, also make “vast improvement in our social and economic life.”

Be well, stay safe, fight fiercely and steadily for justice, and work for peace.