Harold Ickes was secretary of the interior under presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman. On May 18, 1941, at a gathering to celebrate I Am an American Day (a holiday that later became Citizenship Day), Ickes gave this speech in New York City’s Central Park to counter Nazi propaganda. Many Americans wondered if the war in Europe concerned American national interests. Some wanted to stay out of the war and allow Europe to settle its own disputes. This speech asserted that American values were part of the American identity, and that those values opposed those endorsed by Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.