Read Online America's Greatest 20th Century Presidents by Charles River Charles River Editors - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Charles River Charles River Editors
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ravaging Europe, with Nazi Germany conquering much of the continent. In response, the US gradually shifted from its neutral stance. In March, Roosevelt signed the Lend-Lease Act, which authorized the President to give arms to any nation if it was in US national interest. With this Act, the US was able to support Great Britain without declaring war on Nazi Germany or Italy.
By the summer of 1941, U.S. entry into the war seemed just on the horizon. Germany violated the Nazi-Soviet Pact and invaded the Soviet Union, spreading war to virtually every piece of the European continent. President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill (another powerful distant relative) met secretly off the coast of Canada in August. The two issued the Atlantic Charter, a statement of Allied goals in the war. It largely reiterated Wilsonian rights, but also specified that a US/UK victory would not lead to territorial expansion or punitive punishment.
However, a substantial segment of the American public did not appreciate the more bellicose direction President Roosevelt seemed to be heading toward. Before the “Greatest Generation” saved Western Europe, many of them were part of the largest anti-war organization in the country’s history. In 1940, the United States was still mired in the Great Depression, with nearly 8,000,000 Americans still unemployed, but World War II was the most controversial issue in politics. As the Nazis raced across Western Europe in the first year of the war, young students formed the “America First Committee” in Chicago, an isolationist group supported by future presidents Gerald Ford and John F. Kennedy. The isolationist group aimed to keep the country out of European wars and focus on building America’s defenses.
The group expanded to include hundreds of thousands of members by 1941, staunchly opposing President Roosevelt’s “Lend-Lease” act, which helped arm the Allies. The America First Committee remained popular and powerful until the morning of December 7, 1941.
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor in October 1941
Once the Germans invaded the Soviet Union, the Japanese no longer needed to worry about their border with Russia, allowing them to focus exclusively on expanding across the Far East and various islands in the Pacific. Though the Japanese steadily expanded across the Pacific theater during 1941, they were running low on vital resources, including metal and oil. In response to Japanese aggression in China and other places, the United States had imposed a crippling embargo on Japan, exacerbating their problem. Moreover, by winter of 1941, the most obvious target for Japanese expansion was the Phillipines, held by American forces.
Ironically, because both sides anticipated the potential for war in 1941, they each made key decisions that brought about the attack on Pearl Harbor. Watching Japan’s expansion, the United States moved to protect the Phillipines, leading President Roosevelt to station a majority of the Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor. Japan, assuming that aggression toward British targets and the Dutch East Indies would bring the United States into the war, decided they had to inflict a blow to the United States that would set back its war effort long enough to ensure Japanese access to resources.
Japan plotted and trained for an attack on Pearl Harbor for several months leading up to December 7. Believing that a successful attack on the Pacific fleet would buy Japan enough time to win the war, the Japanese decided to focus their attack exclusively on battleships, ignoring infrastructure on the Hawaiian islands. The Japanese also knew American aircraft carriers would not be at Pearl Harbor but decided to proceed anyway.
All Americans are now familiar with the “day that will live in infamy.” On December 7, 1941, the Japanese conducted a surprise attack against the naval base at Pearl Harbor (called Hawaii Operation
By the summer of 1941, U.S. entry into the war seemed just on the horizon. Germany violated the Nazi-Soviet Pact and invaded the Soviet Union, spreading war to virtually every piece of the European continent. President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill (another powerful distant relative) met secretly off the coast of Canada in August. The two issued the Atlantic Charter, a statement of Allied goals in the war. It largely reiterated Wilsonian rights, but also specified that a US/UK victory would not lead to territorial expansion or punitive punishment.
However, a substantial segment of the American public did not appreciate the more bellicose direction President Roosevelt seemed to be heading toward. Before the “Greatest Generation” saved Western Europe, many of them were part of the largest anti-war organization in the country’s history. In 1940, the United States was still mired in the Great Depression, with nearly 8,000,000 Americans still unemployed, but World War II was the most controversial issue in politics. As the Nazis raced across Western Europe in the first year of the war, young students formed the “America First Committee” in Chicago, an isolationist group supported by future presidents Gerald Ford and John F. Kennedy. The isolationist group aimed to keep the country out of European wars and focus on building America’s defenses.
The group expanded to include hundreds of thousands of members by 1941, staunchly opposing President Roosevelt’s “Lend-Lease” act, which helped arm the Allies. The America First Committee remained popular and powerful until the morning of December 7, 1941.
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor in October 1941
Once the Germans invaded the Soviet Union, the Japanese no longer needed to worry about their border with Russia, allowing them to focus exclusively on expanding across the Far East and various islands in the Pacific. Though the Japanese steadily expanded across the Pacific theater during 1941, they were running low on vital resources, including metal and oil. In response to Japanese aggression in China and other places, the United States had imposed a crippling embargo on Japan, exacerbating their problem. Moreover, by winter of 1941, the most obvious target for Japanese expansion was the Phillipines, held by American forces.
Ironically, because both sides anticipated the potential for war in 1941, they each made key decisions that brought about the attack on Pearl Harbor. Watching Japan’s expansion, the United States moved to protect the Phillipines, leading President Roosevelt to station a majority of the Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor. Japan, assuming that aggression toward British targets and the Dutch East Indies would bring the United States into the war, decided they had to inflict a blow to the United States that would set back its war effort long enough to ensure Japanese access to resources.
Japan plotted and trained for an attack on Pearl Harbor for several months leading up to December 7. Believing that a successful attack on the Pacific fleet would buy Japan enough time to win the war, the Japanese decided to focus their attack exclusively on battleships, ignoring infrastructure on the Hawaiian islands. The Japanese also knew American aircraft carriers would not be at Pearl Harbor but decided to proceed anyway.
All Americans are now familiar with the “day that will live in infamy.” On December 7, 1941, the Japanese conducted a surprise attack against the naval base at Pearl Harbor (called Hawaii Operation
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