"Opponents of War Preparedness"
by J. Edgar Hoover, FBI Director
September 23, 1940

The time is come when we must make a choice. We can either resolve to protect our temples of liberty, or we can go blindly along believing that all is well. If we follow the latter course we will someday find our liberties suddenly blacked out by the tyranny of a foreign dictator. Our people are accustomed to taking liberty for granted. As a result they have ceased to think seriously about it. But the foes of America have much to say about it. They construe liberty as a license and clamor for even greater license. Liberty and license are as far apart as liberty and tyranny. License breeds tyranny. In recent days, insidious forces have sought to obstruct our national preparedness campaign by proclaiming that the strengthening of our army and navy abrogates liberty. The communist, the bundsmen, and their allies of totalitarianism are seeking to weaken America's defense. These traitors who shout at liberty as they seek to destroy it, tell all young people that they should refuse to take up their country's arms. Americanism is on fire. It's real test lies in the ability of red-blooded Americans to meet and to defeat the fifth column of destruction.