Franklin D Roosevelt, his role and legacy on 'educating' the american
public during the interwar periods
Kokwhye:
Greetings, and thank you for awaiting an answer. I am pleased to reply
to your request.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt was still leading the United States
out of the Great Depression when he first significantly tried to call
the nation's attention to the possibility of international
responsibilities. On October 5, 1937, Roosevelt spoke in Chicago and
delivered what has become known as the "Quarantine Speech". In that
speech, Roosevelt told his audience:
"It is because the people of the United States under modern conditions
must, for the sake of their own future, give thought to the rest of
the world, that I, as the responsible executive head of the nation,
have chosen ... to speak to you on a subject of definite national
importance."
The reasons for Roosevelt's words were aggressive actions by the
militarily revived Germany under Adolph Hitler -- which supported the
Fascist insurgents in the Spanish Civil War with bombings from the
air, as well as Japan's apparent territorial ambitions in Asia. The
President summed up the extent of his suggestion, saying:
"It seems to be unfortunately true that the epidemic of world
lawlessness is spreading.
And mark this well: When an epidemic of physical disease starts to
spread, the community approves and joins in a quarantine of the
patients in order to protect the health of the community against the
spread of the disease."
It's important to note that the "Quarantine Speech" was not
necessarily as bold as these excerpts might portray. Roosevelt
simultaneously assured that the US wanted to avoid war, and that doing
so was the focus of it's current foreign policies. Though he did
compare international action to check aggression to a community effort
against disease, suggesting quarantine was not suggesting amputation.
In 1937, Roosevelt could only jab at the national inclination for
isolation and depict potential American responsibility in terms of
protecting the Western Hemisphere in line with the Monroe Doctrine.
Given the still unsettled domestic economy and the stringent terms of
Neutrality Acts passed from 1935 through 1937, it was not politically
wise to push the point further, so Roosevelt did not push.
The "Quarantine Speech" demonstrated that Roosevelt understood the use
of speaking as the President of the United States to sway people by
informing them. That speech is just one example of FDR's doing so at
key times leading up to the US entry into World War II. Still, keep in
mind that Roosevelt may have been most effective in the gradual
persuasion of Congress, the people's representation. The passage of
New Deal legislation had shown that Roosevelt enjoyed tremendous
collateral with both citizens and legislators. When Roosevelt asked
for passage of a particular measure, many in the public would believe
the measure must be necessary. Similarly, many in Congress would
believe the President could invoke public support for the measure. In
the late 1930s Roosevelt played both ends masterfully to generally
prepare the United States in case of war. This was carefully done,
always in terms of preparedness and national security, but with at
least an idea of the nature of the war the US might have to enter, and
which side it should support. For example, in 1938 Roosevelt got
Congress to begin upgrading the US Navy to a fighting capability on
two oceans.
Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, triggering the start of
World War II in Europe. Four days later President Roosevelt officially
declared US neutrality, but in doing so said the nation's position
was, “... to be neutral in deed if not in thought.” FDR, like a vast
majority of Americans at the time, sympathized with Britain in its war
against Germany. The President's remark justified that inclination to
observe neutrality while thinking in terms of alliance -- a
justification for both the US public and the direction of US national
security. Congress followed up on the statement of neutrality by
passing the Neutrality Act of 1939. This neutrality act differed from
the earlier ones because it allowed combatant nations to buy arms from
the US under a "cash and carry" system. The buying nations paid for
the arms in cash, took immediate title of them, and transported them
away from the US on their own ships. The "cash and carry" policy was
overtly neutral, but favored Britain and France in practice because
Germany had no need to buy arms from the US. However, by way of
demonstrating continued neutrality, the North Atlantic was declared a
combat zone to be avoided by Americans at sea and an appeal for more
substantive aid from the French was declined because Congress had not
declared war.
For most of 1940 Franklin Roosevelt carefully employed the less
restrictive sense of formal neutrality adopted in 1939. It was a means
to continue increasingly less neutral preparation in case the US
happened to be drawn into the existing war, and the European theater
wasn't the only concern. That summer, Roosevelt ordered the Pacific
fleet to base in Hawaii rather than California. The National Security
Act of 1940 empowered the President to place certain materials on a
trade reserve list. Roosevelt used the listing to gradually embargo
goods from Japan. Early that fall FDR completed the "Destroyer-Bases"
deal with Great Britain, trading 50 overage ships in exchange for the
promise of long-term military bases in British territory. Roosevelt
was also seeking a third term in 1940, and remained mindful of public
reluctance for war. On the campaign trail he assured, “Your boys are
not going to be sent into any foreign war.” Yet, he more privately
observed, “Of course, we’ll fight if we’re attacked. If someone
attacks us, then it isn’t a foreign war.” Roosevelt won reelection in
1940. Whether confident of job security or seeing the political
victory as an endorsement of a sympathized foreign policy, FDR got
ready to close the year by changing his rhetorical approach and the US
perspective on the threat of war. He did so on December 29, 1940,
using a "Fireside Chat" radio address to deliver the "Arsenal of
Democracy Speech".
Speaking to the nation, Roosevelt compared the world crisis of the day
to the nation's economic crisis as it had been in 1933. The President
referenced the Tripartite Pact that linked the nations of Germany,
Italy, and Japan. He portrayed these aggressive powers as thugs and
accomplices bent on world domination while characterizing Great
Britain as a protective neighbor. The fall of Great Britain would mean
the fall of Europe, Africa, as well as Australia and the Asian
Pacific. The nations of the Western Hemisphere would naturally be
next.
Note the way FDR refuted key arguments for isolation in his address:
"...Some of our people like to believe that wars in Europe and in Asia
are of no concern to us. But it is a matter of most vital concern to
us that European and Asiatic war-makers should not gain control of the
oceans which lead to this hemisphere."
"Some of us like to believe that. even if Great Britain falls, we are
still safe, because of the broad expanse of the Atlantic and of the
Pacific. But the width of these oceans is not what it was in the days
of clipper ships. At one point between Africa and Brazil the distance
is less than from Washington to Denver-five hours for the latest type
of bomber. And at the, north of the Pacific Ocean, America and Asia
almost touch each other.
Even today we have planes which could fly from the British Isles to
New England and back without refueling. And the range of the modern
bomber is ever being increased."
" ... many people in all parts of the Nation have told me what they
wanted me to say tonight. Almost all of them expressed a courageous
desire to hear the plain truth about the gravity of the situation. One
telegram, however, expressed the attitude of the, small minority who
want to see no evil and hear no evil, even though they know in their
hearts that evil exists. That telegram begged me not to tell again of
the ease with which our American cities could be bombed by any hostile
power which had gained bases in this Western Hemisphere. The gist of
that telegram was: "Please, Mr. President, don't frighten us by
telling us the facts."
"The American appeasers ignore the warning to be found in the ate of
Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands,
Denmark, and France. They tell you that the Axis powers re going to
win anyway; that all this bloodshed in the world could be saved; and
that the United States might just as well throw its influence into the
scale of a dictated peace, and get the best out of it that we can.They
call it a "negotiated peace". Nonsense! Is it a negotiated peace if a
gang of outlaws surrounds your community and on threat of
extermination makes you pay tribute to save your own skins?"
Roosevelt conveyed his sense that American isolationists were:
increasingly in the minority, unaware of the realities of the modern
world, and basically afraid to stand up to those who threatened it. In
this speech, Roosevelt was advocating an international responsibility
for the US, one still short of war:
"Thinking in terms of today and tomorrow, I make the direct statement
to the American people that there is far less chance of the United
States getting into war if we do all we can now to support the nations
defending themselves against attack by the Axis than if we acquiesce
in their defeat, submit tamely to an Axis victory, and wait our turn
to be the object of attack in another war later on. ... The people of
Europe who are defending themselves do not ask us to do their
fighting. They ask us for the implements of war, the planes, the
tanks, the guns, the freighters, which will enable them to fight for
their liberty and our security. Emphatically we must get these weapons
to them in sufficient volume and quickly enough, so that we and our
children will be saved the agony and suffering of war which others
have had to endure. ... There is no demand for sending an American
Expeditionary Force outside our own borders. There is no intention by
any member of your Government to send such a force. You can,
therefore, nail any talk about sending armies to Europe as deliberate
untruth."
Roosevelt was changing the meaning of neutrality to mean only the
absence of US fighting in the war. Supplying nations against the Axis
powers wasn't fighting, it was defensive common sense. He could
confidently use his office to rally popular support to do that:
"I want to make it clear that it is the purpose of the Nation to build
now with all possible speed every machine and arsenal and factory that
we need to manufacture our defense material. We have the men the
skill, the wealth, and above all, the will. ... As President of the
United States I call for that national effort. I call for it in the
name of this Nation which we love and honor and which we are
privileged and proud to serve. I call upon our people with absolute
confidence that our common cause will greatly succeed."
On January 6, 1941, President Roosevelt used his address to Congress
to further galvanize public opinion and motivate Congress with a
speech for the ages, the "Four Freedoms" Speech. He noted that the
United States had historically avoided foreign entanglements, but
never shut out the world or the course of civilization. Roosevelt
insisted that previous international crisis had not carried the
potential to end in world domination. In facing this threat, he
informed Congress that the sentiment of the people regarding the war
was clear:
"... by an impressive expression of the public will and without regard
to partisanship, we are committed to all-inclusive national defense.
... by an impressive expression of the public will and without regard
to partisanship, we are committed to full support of all those
resolute people everywhere who are resisting aggression and are
thereby keeping war away from our hemisphere. ... by an impressive
expression of the public will and
without regard to partisanship, we are committed to the proposition
that principle of morality and considerations for our own security
will never permit us to acquiesce in a peace dictated by aggressors
and sponsored by appeasers."
FDR again degraded a dedicated isolationist position. The "few" who
would not support the new course of American defensive preparedness
were not just appeasers but "slackers" and "trouble-makers". Congress'
commitment would be welcomed by "... voters, putting patriotism ahead
pocketbooks ..." At stake was more than just the recovery from the
Great Depression but four great human freedoms: to speech, to worship,
from want, and from fear. To President Roosevelt the ongoing war was
nothing less than a test of good against evil.
In this rhetorical atmosphere, set and advanced by President Roosevelt
at the end of 1940 and the beginning of 1941, the US public was more
prepared to accept the adoption of policies like "Lend-Lease"; which
was simply giving war materials to the British and Russians for use
against the Axis. The people were more prepared to understand the
formal embargo of all trade with Japan. President Roosevelt obviously
felt more empowered to enter into such strong agreements as the
Atlantic Charter to facilitate alliance with Great Britain, and to
negotiate tersely with the Japanese throughout the fall of 1941 to the
eve of Japan's attack on the US fleet at Pearl Harbor. When Japan
attacked on December 7, 1941, Roosevelt's words the next day -- the
historic "Day of Infamy Speech" fully justified the nation's defensive
buildup during it's neutrality. It also echoed the public's convinced
understanding that the US had not come to war, but that the war had
come to the US.
The long chronological overview may be more answer than wanted or
needed. Hopefully, it captures the complexity of what Roosevelt did
between 1937 and 1941 to both prepare the nation for entry into war
and preface that course of action in a manner garnering the national
will. Roosevelt oversaw the US transition between distinct phases of
neutrality -- stringent (1935-1939), reluctant (1939-1940), and
formality (1940 - 1941). In terms of presidential power, Roosevelt's
legacy in doing so applies to the great use of the office of the
President to persuade the public and motivate Congress on matters of
proper foreign policy in addition to domestic affairs. The four
Roosevelt speeches drawn from proved FR understood the national
temperament on neutrality and it's readiness for war during those
years. As President, he proved very capable of using rhetoric, media,
sentiment, and information not necessarily to manipulate the public
mindset, but certainly to work on it. In terms of the US relationship
with the world, Franklin Roosevelt's legacy was stamped in the advent
of the United States as a world power.
I sincerely hope this has satisfied your request without being
tedious.
Regards,
Brettquest
Sources and Links
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum
http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/
Henry J. "The Foreign Policy of Franklin D. Roosevelt To The Entry
Into World War II." The Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute, 2002.
http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1978/3/78.03.05.x.html
Road To World War II
http://aam.wcu.edu/brown/vetweb1/vetweblp/RoadtoWWIIOutline.htm
Franklin D. Roosevelt's Quarantine Speech, October 5, 1937
http://www.ku.edu/carrie/docs/texts/fdrquarn.html
"Arsenal of Democracy" Speech, Franklin Roosevelt, 29 December, 1939
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/WorldWar2/arsenal.htm
Franklin Delano Roosevelt: The Four Freedoms
http://www.libertynet.org/~edcivic/fdr.html
Roosevelt's Infamy Speech
http://www.law.ou.edu/hist/infamy.html
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