Issue Date: January 30, 1946
City: Washington, D.C.
Quantity: 76,455,400
Printed by: Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Printing Method: Rotary Press
Perforations: 11 x 10.5
Color: Bright blue

 

U.S. #933 was issued as part of a series of four memorial stamps issued just a few months after President Franklin Roosevelt’s unexpected death in April 1945. This stamp commemorates President Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms speech that he delivered to Congress on January 6, 1941. 

 

When President Roosevelt delivered that speech, he stressed the serious nature of the situation and that “at no previous time has American security been as seriously threatened from without as it is today.” He continued to explain that the U.S. must assist the Allied nations in defeating the Axis powers from taking over all of Europe.

 

President Roosevelt continued, saying, “In these future days which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.” Those freedoms are the freedom of speech and expression, the freedom to worship God in one’s own way, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. He concluded his speech stating that, “Our strength is our unity of purpose. To that high concept there can be no end save victory.”