Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Birth-Death: (1882 - 1945 ) Term: (1933-1945 )

The United States entered World War II by associating itself with the Allied Nations. By beginning to privately and openly support the Allied war effort, the United States was gradually pulled closer to the war itself, and eventually directly into the war. Roosevelt became one of the chief movers and shakers in the war, and soon foreign policy was dictated by what would be most beneficial for the United States once the war was won.

Foreign Events of Franklin Roosevelt

    The Great Depression occurred all over the world. Unfortunately, the solutions from some leaders were more violent than those others. Adolph Hitler was elected Chancellor of Germany within months of Rooseveltıs election, however, he decided to take a more radical approach to solve the problem. At the same time the Japanese were looking for new resources and raw materials, and were ready to attack Manchuria and other parts of mainland China.

    The neutrality attitude from the 1930s was still in people's minds when Hitler came to power. The government did not want to get dragged into another war by business interests, and so it tried every possible method to prevent the war. There were Neutrality Acts issued every year from 1935 to 1937, all of them limiting the amount of trade with belligerent nations.

    As time progressed, the Japanese became more and more aggressive. The gunship Panay was wrongfully attacked, yet the United States did nothing about it. When the Japanese denounced the Five Power Act of the Washington Conference, Congress appropriated more money to build a new navy.

    In reality U.S. involvement in the war began when the United States broke its neutrality. The Neutrality Act of 1939, also known as the Cash and Carry Act, lifted all embargoes, and British and French ships soon filled American ports. By 1941 Britain has exhausted its cash supply and so a new act, the Lend-Lease Act, was passed. Through this act, the United States leased warships and destroyers to the Allies.

    Before the war officially began in December, Roosevelt and Churchill signed the Atlantic Charter, stating their war aims and objectives. The attack on Pearl Harbor occurred on December 7, 1941, and the United States was soon in full fledged war with the Axis Powers.

    The U.S. fought the two front war very effectively. After a few initial losses, the Americans went island-hopping in the Pacific and slowly approached Japan. In Africa, troops under the leadership of General Eisenhower took care of the Germans, and after a long battle over Europe, Germany was taken too. The war lasted for almost four full years. As a result, 322,000 Americans were killed, 676,000 wounded, and 124,000 captured.

    The Peace process began during the war. In 1943, after the Russians had successfully turned the tide of the war, the Moscow Conference was held. It declared that there was a need for an international peace keeping organization. The resolution from the Conference was adopted by the Senate with a 85:5 vote showing the American support for such an organization.

    The Teheran Conference of 1943, Dumbarton Oaks of 1944, and the San Francisco Conference of 1945, were all efforts to establish this international association. The charter for the United Nations was finally signed by 50 nations in San Francisco, and the international association was set up. The United States Senate ratified the resolutions from the San Francisco Conference by a 89:2 vote.