Washington in War Time (ca. 1942 - 1943)

your accommodator is Ed [Music] hurle Washington capital of the United States now the focal point of the Free World of Tomorrow here American history lives in monuments to Heroes who preserved our freedom here again the battle for Liberty is centered Washington in Wartime is people busy people who pass through these gates in a NeverEnding stream important people Little People humble people young and old all determined to give their best in our nation's hour of [Music] peril here at the portals of the Union Station President Roosevelt frequently comes personally to welcome distinguished visitors from other United Nations president King and prime minister feel the genuine warmth and sincerity of a Wasing and welcome as they pass down historic Pennsylvania Avenue through the skyways Statesmen from war ravaged countries across the seas come to the shores of the pomac to personally participate in Great War decisions Secretary of State Hull veteran Diplomat is often present to greet foreign Statesmen or upon their departure to wish them God speak this newest public building in in Wartime Washington is among the most frequented to It Come Those needing knowledge seeking information vital to the successful conduct of their wartime duties more than a million people are crowded into Washington in Wartime a city with a peacetime population of half a million the city was never planned to accommodate such a huge ever growing Army of workers but Washington in Wartime is people people intent on contributing their personal effort people seeking information and advice and sometimes fa others to see history in the making the United States Treasury and its courageous secretary Henry morthor Jr war is never cheap but as I've said before it's a million times cheaper to win than to lose but no matter what the cost the American people are prepared to pay the price of Victory here at the Bureau of Engraving and printing normally engaged in the manufacturer of the nation's currency and postage stamps the presses now have the added burden of printing billions of dollars worth of war bonds and stamps to pay for the planes ships and guns that our Defenders must have the nation's war production is in the able hands of Donald M Nelson this is the time for teamwork for you and your government because we've got a war to win and we're going to win it in the same Social Security building is Paul V mcnut Dynamic mobilizer of the nation's Manpower for war the war Manpower commission will be the great Clearing House for all the wartime labor needs civilian and Military in terms of the war production goals it will set priorities of jobs just as priorities have been set for metals chemicals and other materials the eyes and minds of Freedom loving people around the world are focused on the war department General headquarters of the United Nation's armies in the field General George C Marshall chief of the general staff Secretary of War Henry L Stimson daily make decisions affecting millions of soldiers on land and in the air at their command huge armies is go into action the great United States war machine is set into instant motion as a result of careful planning Behind the Walls of this important building along Washington's Mall the traffic surges constantly from one great military headquarters to another the Navy Department Frank Knox secretary and the commander-in-chief of the United States Fleet Admiral Ernest Joseph King when our heroic fighting Marines have retaken Wake Island or when the Navy's big guns Roar again this will be the brain Center behind our Navy's power hardworking hard-hitting price administrator Leon Henderson sets a patriotic example to Citizens everywhere make no mistake this regulation is a war measure it's a guarantee to the American people that their cost of living will stay put able us Commissioner of Education Dr JW Staker speaks I want a report about another great American Army enrolling one in every four Americans the army of organized education boys and girls collect scrap to build up our national stockpile teachers sign you up for Selective Service and for sugar and gasoline rationing America's Army of Education mobilizes to win both the war and the pece the Department of Agriculture will Loom large when the history of our time is written every crop needed to win the war will be produced in enormous quantities as a result of the planning and research centered here the ponderous sleepy looking building of the Department of State is wide awake today awake with anti- exis diplomatic problems here secretary Cordell Hull applies a keen mind to negotiations with foreign emissaries and American interests do not suffer much of the war business of the government is centered in the white marble buildings flanking Constitution Avenue Washington's hotels are so crowded that rooms are rarely obtainable and many a visitor has spent the night in a hotel lobby some 300,000 government employees crowd the Serve Yourself cafeterias for like our Defenders at the battlefronts this civilian Army must eat and eat well to carry on the fight behind the lines living quarters are hard to find and it is common practice for war workers to live five in a room they come from everywhere attracted by the glamour of the nation's capital the important and interesting people and the desire to personally serve some find that life is hrum monotonous what Washington is like that and Washington and the whole nation is what the people make it the people represented by Congress in Wartime the job of a congressman is a hard one he is the people's employee and they work him day and night he must answer to the people for Appropriations War policies and anything and everything that concerns the everyday life and future of an [Music] American focal point of all Washington is the White House Home and Office of the President his executive assistants include Marvin McIntyre enviable custodian of the president's appointment book and Steven early who reports the White House and the war to the Press once reporters rushing to telephones smashed the symbolic donkey on his desk history making is the wartime job of the president and his cabinet Winston Churchill has crossed and recrossed the Atlantic to confir and strategy and to plan future offense not defense of all the president's great duties none is more pleasant than that of rewarding the nation's Heroes the Congressional Medal of Honor to General James dittle who led our bomber over Tokyo god of the free 28 Nations Stand United until Victory is won of all mankind grant us victory over the tyrants who would enslave all free men and Nations grant us a common faith that man shall know bread and peace that he shall know Justice and righteousness freedom and security and equal opportunity and an equal chance to do his best not only in our own lands but throughout the world and in that Faith let us March toward the clean World our hands can make amen [Music]