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What did Franklin D. Roosevelt mean by calling December 7, 1941, “a date which will live in infamy”?

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Pearl Harbor attack A U.S. battleship sinking during the Pearl Harbor attack.

When U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt described December 7, 1941, as "a date which will live in infamy," he was characterizing the Pearl Harbor attack as a sudden, deliberate, and dishonorable act of aggression by the Empire of Japan.1

By using this language in his address to Congress, Roosevelt emphasized the treacherous nature of the surprise strike, which occurred while the two nations were not in a state of declared war. The attack resulted in the deaths of more than 2,300 Americans and caused devastating damage to the U.S. Pacific Fleet.213

Ultimately, the president’s words served to unify the American public, effectively ending previous support for neutrality and galvanizing the nation to enter World War II. The moral weight of the term "infamy" underscored the violation of international norms, framing the subsequent declaration of war as a necessary and righteous response to an unprovoked assault.213