Roosevelt seeks national service act in State of the Union address 70 years ago this hour (Jan 6 1945)


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(Saturday, January 6, 1945, 10:00 p.m. EWT) — In his annual State of the Union address, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt called for early enactment of a national service act and for compulsory military training of youth after the war.

As a corollary, he held out the prospect of achieving in 1945 a decisive victory in Europe, the final “closing in on Japan” and the start of “the organization of world peace.”