Category: Writers Block
"It would be suicide to wait until they are in our front yard." Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the author of this quote. Roosevelt served as the thirty-second United States President, who served for four terms in the White House. He won his first election at the age of fifty-two and remained in office until he died of heart failure when he" was sixty-four, about twelve years later. He was a controversial president. Some thought Roosevelt was a socialistic dictator. Others considered him charismatic, efficient, and capable enough to get the United States out of the problems faced by the country at the time. No matter whatever people thought of him, Roosevelt had no doubt led the republic through quite a few struggles including the Great Depression and the Second World War. The Second World War was a fierce struggle for power sparked by Munic. (Manchester) It was a war to determine the fate of the free world and whether it would last. In the end, capitalism was victorious. The United States, Roosevelt, and Harry S. Truman all played an important part in helping the capitalists win the war. Roosevelt played a crucial role in leading the United States into the Second World War by disregarding the isolationism ideology, His relationships with leaders of other countries, and his implementation of Lend Lease.2
The majority of the citizens in the United States had no desire to enter the Second World War, however, Roosevelt knew that Hitler, Mussolini, Tojo, and Franco would not stop their expansion until the entire world was under their rule, otherwise they would not give up the struggle until they were defeated. (pbs) He had promised the nation to remain as isolated and neutral as possible, however, he never kept to such a policy in the way his administration operated. for example, he wished to repeal the neutrality act as he thought the allies might have a fifty percent chance of winning the war. (Manchester) Furthermore, he had the details of engagement planned and at the ready for when the dictators may strike. (PBS) if it were not for Roosevelt's choice to disregard Isolationism and proceed to battle the Axis Powers, the entire world might well have been ruled by the Nazis. If he had insisted upon isolationism, it may have only delayed the combat and have left it to the future generations to deal with. However, Roosevelt decided to deal with the dilemma himself. He could not declare war on the dictators so he only pleaded and condemned them. Nevertheless, it is due to Roosevelt's efforts and efficient tactics that we are not under dictatorial rule today. (PBS) An example of a policy that disregarded isolationism, which helped the united States and possibly the world, was Cash And Carry, which supplied allied nations with arms. However, each country was forced to pay for them in cash and to find a way to transport them to the front without utilizing US resources. (Danzer)3
Roosevelt thought that if Great Britain was defeated and was no longer a stable force then that would mean Hitler, Mussolini, Tojo, and Franco would have a chance to move Westward towards the United States. "The dictator threat from Europe is a good deal closer to the United States," was the premise he went upon. Yet, numerous events led up to Pearl Harbor as Roosevelt disregarded Isolationism ideology and changed the meaning to neutrality. On many occasions he would insist on taking a side. At the beginning of the Second World War, Neutrality was not taking a side, however, as time progressed it came to mean not shooting german soldiers and not actually fighting. However, If they could give aid to Britain or any of the allies without fighting in the war it would not be wrong. (Manchester) In addition, he did increase his Military spending along with size, and strengthened security. (PBS)4
For example, the United States sent China firearms to defeat the Japanese in 1937, but did not dispatch any soldiers. (Danzer) In 1940, he had told Britain's prime minister Winston Churchill that he did not think isolationism was possible. (Manchester) Another example of Roosevelt's intervention was the act of sending the british fifty overage destroyers a ninety-nine years lease to naval bases in Newfoundland and in the Caribbean (PBS)5
There were two decisions which made isolation and neutrality impossible. The first was the fact that he approved of the Atomic bomb and ordered scientists to begin its construction. (PBS) The second was his war at sea with the german U-boats. Roosevelt at first did not do anything about it, then he permitted the ships to shoot the U-boats in self defense, and finally he ordered the ships to shoot the german submarines on sight. (Danzer) Roosevelt did not only lead America into combat by disregarding isolationism but he also communicated and attempted to be diplomatic with leaders of other countries.6
Roosevelt had at one point asked Hitler to not invade weak nations. This earned him much laughter from the Germans and Hitler's mocking promise that he would not conquer the United States. Also, a few days after his election, British Military officials arrived in Washington to meet secretly with The Combined Chiefs, which lasted roughly about two months. (Manchester) Churchill and Roosevelt first corresponded in March of 1940. (Heinrichs) That summer, Roosevelt and Churchill secretly met in person and discussed matters. The result was the Atlantic Charter. (PBS) Not only were the actions ideological and verbal but the Lend Lease Act was established.7
The Lend Lease Act was established to supply arms to countries that were in need of them. They could repay America after the war, battle, or crisis was finished. (PBS) Roosevelt first created this act because Britain did not have enough to purchase proper ammunition, but it was necessary to have more at hand so the British could defend themselves and do battle with the Axis Powers and Franco. Therefore, Roosevelt created the Lend Lease Act. It was first proposed to congress on December of 1940. On 12-17-1940 Roosevelt held a Fireside Chat to explain the Lend Lease Act to the citizens of The United States. Many called his plans outrageous and later when the act was enacted, some criticized Roosevelt for also lending the fire hydrant to the other nations as well. The Bill was past in March Of 1941. In this way, Roosevelt led the American public into the Second World War.8
The one man that was in charge of so much and that influenced the country in so many ways, had also led this country down a road ending in the inevitable entrance in the Second World War. The series of events which led up to 12-7-1941, also known as Pearl Harbor, in the United States was partly due to Franklin Delano Roosevelt's disregard for the isolationist policies, diplomatic relationship with foreign leaders, and the Lend Lease Act. All in all, this was a tense sequence of events, which required a man with much thought and determination in order to survive through.9
Author notes
So, after a whole entire weekend devoted to editing this paper and my entire Sunday running around and getting it edited, I have this to present. I hope you have enjoyed it!
And, thank you to those who were involved in the editing process. I really appreciated the time and I was overall pleased with all the edits!!!!
And, the essay is named after Roosevelt's campaign song, which by the way is really really good!
I'm not entirely sure what purpose you had for posting this, whether for feedback or just because you're proud of it (both of which are of course good reasons). In any case, it's an informative essay.