It is a fearful thing to lead this great peaceful people into war, into the most terrible and disastrous of all wars, civilizationitself seeming to be in the balance. But the right is more precious than peace, and we shall fight for the things we have always carried closest to our hearts.

Address of the President of the United States Delivered at a Joint Session of the Two Houses of Congress, April 2, 1917 (ed. 1917)