---
title: The state of this nation is good
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/state-of-the-nation-roosevelt-owi-poster-40-1943/
description: Text-only dark blue poster with a small eagle-and-shield emblem above four parallel lines from President Roosevelt's message to Congress of 7 January 1943
section: Collection
---

1. [Home](https://propagandaarchive.org/)
2. [Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)
3. The state of this nation is good

[![The state of this nation is good, 1943 US poster: Text-only dark blue poster with a small eagle-and-shield emblem above four](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/state-of-the-nation-roosevelt-owi-poster-40-1943.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/state-of-the-nation-roosevelt-owi-poster-40-1943.jpg)

# The state of this nation is good

Text-only dark blue poster with a small eagle-and-shield emblem above four parallel lines from President Roosevelt's message to Congress of 7 January 1943: the nation's state is good, its heart sound, its spirit strong, its faith eternal. The technique is glittering generalities, abstract virtues stated without a claim to check, with the President's name as testimonial.

## Propaganda techniques used in this poster

[Glittering generalities](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/glittering-generalities/) [Testimonial](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/testimonial/)

## Text on the object

Original (English) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
...the state of this nation is good
the heart of this nation is sound
the spirit of this nation is strong
the faith of this nation is eternal.
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT
from his message to Congress, January 7, 1943
OWI Poster No. 40.  Additional copies may be obtained upon request from the Division of Public Inquiries, Office of War Information, Washington, D. C.
[imprint: U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1943—O—507621]
```

[← Stamp out black markets with your ration stamps. Pay no more than legal prices](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/stamp-out-black-markets-with-your-ration-stamps-legal-prices-1943/) [Steer clear of bad bumps! Protect the casings →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/steer-clear-of-bad-bumps-protect-the-casings-1943/)

## More propaganda examples that use the same techniques

- [Gypsum alabaster slab inscribed in cuneiform, from Nimrud (Kalhu), reign of Ashurnasirpal II](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/nimrud-slab-ashurnasirpal-ii-inscription-883bce/) (Neo Assyrian Empire · 0000 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Colour lithograph of the Latin text of the Res Gestae Divi Augusti on the wall of the temple of Roma and Augustus at Ancyra, with the heading in large letters (Perrot, Guillaume and Delbet, 1872)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/lithograph-res-gestae-ancyra-heading-0014/) (Roman Empire · 0014 · Card stacking, Glittering generalities)
- [Bronze sestertius of Trajan, reverse S P Q R OPTIMO PRINCIPI, S C, the emperor on horseback riding down an enemy](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/sestertius-trajan-optimo-principi-0103/) (Roman Empire · 0103 · Testimonial, Glittering generalities)
- [Gold solidus of Constantine I, reverse RESTITVTORI LIBERTATIS](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/solidus-constantine-i-restitutori-libertatis-0313/) (Roman Empire · 0313 · Glittering generalities)
- [Gold solidus of Justinian I, reverse VICTORIA AVGGG with Victory holding a Christogram staff](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/solidus-justinian-i-victoria-avggg-0538/) (Byzantine Empire · 0538 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [The Armada Portrait of Elizabeth I (Royal Museums Greenwich version), oil on panel](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/armada-portrait-elizabeth-i-greenwich-1588/) (England · 1588 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Medal of Elizabeth I: portrait in a ruff, reverse an ark on stormy waves with SAEVAS TRANQVILLA PER VNDAS (18th-century aftercast of a 1588 model)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/elizabeth-i-ark-medal-aftercast-1588/) (England · 1588 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Frontispiece to Eikon Basilike, The Pourtraicture of His Sacred Majestie in his Solitudes and Sufferings (Hollar, 1649)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/eikon-basilike-frontispiece-hollar-1649/) (Dutch Republic · 1649 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)