1.) The walls of the White House were covered with paintings of past Presidents with Grant and Washington being the last and most recognizable. Both were war time leaders. FDR's office was decorated with models and paintings of sailing ships. Teddy Roosevelt (FDR's relative) was Undersecretary of the Navy before the Spanish American War. Also, the Navy suffered the heaviest losses in the Pearl Harbor attack. The conversation on the way to the meeting was about patriotic songs of the past and about how Teddy Roosevelt loved one of them, so much he used to sing it while taking a bath. The reason Teddy Roosevelt is central is that he was related to FDR and was a man of action who quit his government post to join the Rough Riders and fight in Cuba. FDR was crippled by polio, so, in a sense, Teddy stands in for FDR.
2.) The conversation with the President contained a statement about how much the President admired the open demonstrations of patriotism by Irish immigrants which prepares and encourages people to positively respond to similar demonstrations. They discussed a newspaper article saying Cohan would make a better President than FDR. Cohan's dismissive reply that it was a Republican paper, encourages people to set aside their political differences and to chalk up any criticism of FDR as political. Mr. Cohan talks about how his father volunteered to fight in the Civil War at 13 and was tremendously proud to have done so. This encourages young men to volunteer.
3.) Opening with FDR, reminds people of the war that has just begun, flashing back to the past, only 13 years after the Civil War, with flags flying during a Fourth of July parade with soldiers marching reminds them of the past.
