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Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
We Can… We Will… We Must!
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.

We Can… We Will… We Must!

Artifact IDMO 2005.13.36.269.3
Object Type Poster
Artist
Maker (American, founded 1861)
Issuing Body (American, founded 1891)
Issuing Body (American, founded 1789)
Date1942
Mediumpaper
Dimensionsoverall H 11 1/4 in x W 20 1/2 in (28.6 cm x 52.1 cm )
Physical DescriptionA color poster featuring at center an American flag over a blue rectangular box. Along the bottom of the box is a black band with yellow text reading: BUY U.S. WAR SAVINGS BONDS & STAMPS NOW. Overlapping the left side of the blue box is a smaller yellow box with the minuteman logo and the black text: WE CAN… / WE WILL… / WE MUST! / .. Franklin D. Roosevelt. The artwork is by Carl Paulson. Additional small text in the bottom margin of the poster reads: U. S. Government Printing Office : 1942-O-453557 Form DSS-355.
Historical NoteCommissioned by the Outdoor Advertising Association of America, Inc., for the U.S. Treasury Department, this was among the most popular posters created during the war. It was issued in a number of sizes and reproduced at large scale on highway billboards. The quotation is drawn from President Roosevelt’s May 27, 1941, Fireside Chat, in which he declared an “unlimited national emergency” in response to German aggression in Europe. In that speech, FDR argued that speedy delivery of emergency military supplies to Great Britain was “imperative,” adding: “I say that this can be done; it must be done; and it will be done.”
Additional Details
Credit LineGift of the Adriance Memorial Library
National Archives Catalog CollectionFranklin D. Roosevelt Library Museum Collection (National Archives Identifier 735948)
National Archives Catalog SeriesOriginal Posters from World War I and World War II (National Archives Identifier 739394)
Use Restriction StatusUnrestrictedCopyrightReproduction or other use of these holdings or images thereof is unrestricted.
In Collection(s)
Exhibitions
Not on view