FDR's efforts in USA political arena to provide arms to democratic Britain & France in response to Hitler led Nazi Germany's military aggression in Europe in 1940 (till Nov. election); Isolationists in USA who opposed FDR
Last updated on 10th Dec. 2020
This post follows up my earlier post: FDR's efforts in USA political arena to provide arms to democratic Britain & France in response to Hitler led Nazi Germany's military aggression in Europe in 1938 & 1939; Isolationists in USA who opposed FDR, https://ravisiyermisc.blogspot.com/2020/11/fdrs-efforts-in-usa-political-arena-to.html, 28th Nov. 2020. This post covers the period from beginning of the year 1940 till the US presidential election in Nov. 1940.
Please note that this is a loooong post at least partly due to inclusion of large parts of two key FDR speeches in 1940.
Phoney War
After fall of Poland in early October 1939, the Nazi German armed forces, and British and French armed forces (who had declared war on Germany), did not have any large scale attack on each other for eight months. This period is called Phoney War! From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoney_War :
The Phoney War (French: Drôle de guerre; German: Sitzkrieg) was an eight-month period at the start of World War II, during which there was only one limited military land operation on the Western Front, when French troops invaded Germany's Saar district. The Phoney period began with the declaration of war by the United Kingdom and France against Nazi Germany on 3 September 1939, and ended with the German invasion of France and the Low Countries on 10 May 1940. Although there was no large-scale military action by Britain and France, they did begin some economic warfare, especially with the naval blockade, and shut down German surface raiders.
--- end extracts from Phoney War wiki page ---
Germany invades Denmark & Norway and later Netherlands, Belgium & France
But Germany first moved against Denmark and Norway on 9th April 1940. Denmark surrendered on same day itself. Norway held out for around 2 months, surrendering on 10th June 1940.
On 10th May 1940, Nazi Germany invaded Belgium and Netherlands (and Luxembourg). French and British armed forces aided Belgium in its efforts to fight Germany. Netherlands surrendered on 15th May 1940. Belgium surrendered on 28th May 1940.
A few days into Germany's invasion of Belgium, Nazi German forces invaded France through Belgian border. As per https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-France-World-War-II/The-Battle-of-Belgium-and-the-defense-of-the-Channel-ports-May-10-June-4-1940, the date of entry into France, "just west of Sedan" by Nazi German forces was 14th May 1940. But wikipedia indicates that invasion of France happened on same day of 10th May as invasion of Netherlands and Belgium.
Meanwhile Winston Churchill had become PM of Britain. [The book: FDR (Franklin D. Roosevelt) by Jean Edward Smith is referred to as the FDR book in this post.] As per the FDR book, at 7.30 AM on 15th May 1940, the French premier Paul Reynaud spoke to Churchill over phone saying, "We are defeated. We have lost the battle". From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Reynaud, '"On 15 May, five days after the invasion began, Reynaud contacted Churchill and famously remarked, "We have been defeated... we are beaten; we have lost the battle.... The front is broken near Sedan."'
On that day itself, as per FDR book, Churchill sent a cable message to FDR: "The scene has darkened swiftly. The small countries are simply smashed up, one by one, like matchwood. We expect to be attacked ourselves in the near future. If necessary, we shall continue the war alone ... But I trust you realize, Mr. President, that the voice and force of the United States may count for nothing if they are withheld too long". Churchill then asked FDR for old destroyers, aircraft, anti-aircraft guns and ammunition, as well as raw materials.
FDR spoke to Congress the next day asking for $1.2 billion additionally for defense. The FDR book says that FDR said in this address: "The brutal force of modern offensive war has been loosed in all its horror. No old defense is so strong that it requires no further strengthening and no attack is so unlikely that it may be ignored."
FDR responded to Churchill that airplanes, anti-aircraft guns, ammunition and steel would be provided by US to Britain but not destroyers as that would need specific authorization from US Congress.
During this time of May 1940, USA's Democratic Party primary elections were going on in various states. The FDR book states, "FDR made no public reference to the primaries and did not campaign, but he did not prevent supporters from filing slates on his behalf." I don't know the exact meaning of "filing slates" but it clearly indicates that FDR's name was on the ballot for Democratic Party primary elections in various states. Many US states voted heavily in the Democratic Party primaries for FDR i.e. FDR won many primary delegates as compared to other contenders to be nominee for President from the Democratic Party.
I find it very interesting that though FDR did not publicly say that he would like to be nominee for President from the Democratic Party, his name was put on the ballot and that he won many delegates. FDR was keeping his options open of whether he would actually run for President for his 3rd term or not!
The war in France went badly for British and French forces in May and early June, resulting in evacuation to Britain of these forces from Dunkirk, from 26th May to 4th June 1940.
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunkirk_evacuation :
The Dunkirk evacuation, code-named Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, was the evacuation of Allied soldiers during World War II from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, in the north of France, between 26 May and 4 June 1940. The operation commenced after large numbers of Belgian, British, and French troops were cut off and surrounded by German troops during the six-week Battle of France. In a speech to the House of Commons, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill called this "a colossal military disaster", saying "the whole root and core and brain of the British Army" had been stranded at Dunkirk and seemed about to perish or be captured.[7] In his "we shall fight on the beaches" speech on 4 June, he hailed their rescue as a "miracle of deliverance".[8]
[References:]
7. Churchill, Winston (2003). "Wars are not won by evacuations, 4 June 1940, House of Commons". In Churchill, Winston S. (ed.). Never Give In!: The Best of Winston Churchill's Speeches. New York: Hyperion. ISBN 1-40130-056-1. p. 212
8. Safire, William (2004). Lend Me Your Ears: Great Speeches in History. New York: Norton. ISBN 0-393-04005-4. p. 146
--- end extracts from Dunkirk evacuation wiki page ---
The FDR book states, "Left behind was the equipment of the British Army, including all of its artillery, small arms, 7,000 tons of ammunition, and 120,000 vehicles." The FDR book states that Churchill wrote: "Never has a nation been so naked before her foes".
The FDR book mentions that after British losses at Dunkirk, overcoming some resistance from Secretary of War Woodring who was an isolationist/non-interventionist, Treasury Secretary Morgenthau and General Marshall pushed through arms and ammunition sales (at cost) to Britain, which was what FDR wanted. It required some bureaucratic manoevuring like declaring what the British needed as US army surplus and routing the sale via US corporations. The FDR book states, "Except for tanks, which were in short supply, the British Army was substantially rearmed within six weeks after returning from Dunkirk".
Italy invades France; FDR 'stab in the back' speech
On 10th June 1940, Italy invaded France which was already reeling under the German invasion. The same day, FDR made a commencement address at the University of Virginia, where his son was graduating from. FDR's speech audio is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7j6A6VAnG8, 23 min. 06 secs. I heard this entire audio. The initial and end segments are of a broadcast host/commentator. FDR's speech starts at around 0 min. 54 secs into the audio. This speech seems to be known as the 'stab in the back' speech of FDR.
It was quite an experience for me to hear the audio as one could feel the strength of emotion in FDR's words about the need to fight the "philosophy of force" and protect freedom. It was great to hear the applause FDR received at some points in the speech.
An edited transcript of this speech is available here (along with audio it seems): https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/presidential-speeches/june-10-1940-stab-back-speech#dp-expandable-text . Some extracts from the edited transcript are given below:
Every generation of young men and women in America has questions to ask the world. Most of the time they are the simple but nevertheless difficult questions, questions of work to do, opportunities to find, ambitions to satisfy.
But every now and again in the history of the Republic a different kind of question presents itself-a question that asks, not about the future of an individual or even of a generation, but about the future of the country, the future of the American people.
...
They ask, not only what the future holds for this Republic, but what the future holds for all peoples and all nations that have been living under democratic forms of Government-under the free institutions of a free people.
It is understandable to all of us that they should ask this question. They read the words of those who are telling them that the ideal of individual liberty, the ideal of free franchise, the ideal of peace through justice, are decadent ideals. They read the word and hear the boast of those who say that a belief in force-force directed by self-chosen leaders-is the new and vigorous system which will overrun the earth. They have seen the ascendancy of this philosophy of force in nation after nation where free institutions and individual liberties were once maintained.
It is natural and understandable that the younger generation should first ask itself what the extension of the philosophy of force to all the world would lead to ultimately. We see today in stark reality some of the consequences of what we call the machine age.
Where control of machines has been retained in the hands of mankind as a whole, untold benefits have accrued to mankind. For mankind was then the master; and the machine was the servant.
But in this new system of force the mastery of the machine is not in the hands of mankind. It is in the control of infinitely small groups of individuals who rule without a single one of the democratic sanctions that we have known. The machine in hands of irresponsible conquerors becomes the master; mankind is not only the servant; it is the victim, too. Such mastery abandons with deliberate contempt all the moral values to which even this young country for more than three hundred years has been accustomed and dedicated.
...
Perception of danger to our institutions may come slowly or it may come with a rush and a shock as it has to the people of the United States in the past few months. This perception of danger has come to us clearly and overwhelmingly; and we perceive the peril in a world-wide arena-an arena that may become so narrowed that only the Americas will retain the ancient faiths.
Some indeed still hold to the now somewhat obvious delusion that we of the United States can safely permit the United States to become a lone island, a lone island in a world dominated by the philosophy of force.
Such an island may be the dream of those who still talk and vote as isolationists. Such an island represents to me and to the overwhelming majority of Americans today a helpless nightmare of a people without freedom-the nightmare of a people lodged in prison, handcuffed, hungry, and fed through the bars from day to day by the contemptuous, unpitying masters of other continents.
It is natural also that we should ask ourselves how now we can prevent the building of that prison and the placing of ourselves in the midst of it.
Let us not hesitate-all of us-to proclaim certain truths. Overwhelmingly we, as a nation-and this applies to all the other American nations-are convinced that military and naval victory for the gods of force and hate would endanger the institutions of democracy in the western world, and that equally, therefore, the whole of our sympathies lies with those nations that are giving their life blood in combat against these forces.
The people and the Government of the United States have seen with the utmost regret and with grave disquiet the decision of the Italian Government to engage in the hostilities now raging in Europe.
...
[FDR mentions his efforts to encourage Italian govt. to avoid the spread of war in Europe, and a proposal he made to Italian govt. to negotiate with govts. of Britain and France so that if Italy did not enter into the war in Europe, in any future peace conference it is accorded "same authority as if Italy had actually taken part in the war, as a belligerent".]
Unfortunately to the regret of all of us and the regret of humanity, the Chief of the Italian Government was unwilling to accept the procedure suggested and he has made no counter proposal.
This Government directed its efforts to doing what it could to work for the preservation of peace in the Mediterranean area, and it likewise expressed its willingness to endeavor to cooperate with the Government of Italy when the appropriate occasion arose for the creation of a more stable world order, through the reduction of armaments, and through the construction of a more liberal international economic system which would assure to all powers equality of opportunity in the world's markets and in the securing of raw materials on equal terms.
I have likewise, of course, felt it necessary in my communications to Signor Mussolini to express the concern of the Government of the United States because of the fact that any extension of the war in the region of the Mediterranean would inevitably result in great prejudice to the ways of life and Government and to the trade and commerce of all the American Republics.
The Government of Italy has now chosen to preserve what it terms its "freedom of action" and to fulfill what it states are its promises to Germany. In so doing it has manifested disregard for the rights and security of other nations, disregard for the lives of the peoples of those nations which are directly threatened by this spread of the war; and has evidenced its unwillingness to find the means through pacific negotiations for the satisfaction of what it believes are its legitimate aspirations.
On this tenth day of June, nineteen hundred and forty, the hand that held the dagger has struck it into the back of its neighbor. [This refers to Italy declaring war on France (and Britain) on this day.]
On this tenth day of June, nineteen hundred and forty, in this University founded by the first great American teacher of democracy, we send forth our prayers and our hopes to those beyond the seas who are maintaining with magnificent valor their battle for freedom. [The "first great American teacher of democracy" reference seems to be to Thomas Jefferson, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson, who was one of USA's founding fathers, third president of USA from 1801 to 1809, and also the founder of this University of Virginia where FDR was giving this commencement speech.]
In our American unity, we will pursue two obvious and simultaneous courses; we will extend to the opponents of force the material resources of this nation; and, at the same time, we will harness and speed up the use of those resources in order that we ourselves in the Americas may have equipment and training equal to the task of any emergency and every defense.
All roads leading to the accomplishment of these objectives must be kept clear of obstructions. We will not slow down or detour. Signs and signals call for speed-full speed ahead.
It is right that each new generation should ask questions. But in recent months the principal question has been somewhat simplified. Once more the future of the nation and of the American people is at stake.
We need not and we will not, in any way, abandon our continuing effort to make democracy work within our borders. We still insist on the need for vast improvements in our own social and economic life. But that is a component part of national defense itself.
The program unfolds swiftly and into that program will fit the responsibility and the opportunity of every man and woman in the land to preserve his and her heritage in days of peril.
I call for effort, courage, sacrifice, devotion. Granting the love of freedom, all of these are possible.
And the love of freedom is still fierce and steady in the nation today.
--- end extracts from transcript of FDR ---
FDR clearly portrayed the war in Europe, and Italy's entry into it, as a war (in Europe) between those who use "philosophy of force"/"system of force" (Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy) and those who uphold freedom and democracy (Britain and France). He argued against the "delusion" of isolationists who (wrongly in FDR's view) thought that USA could be "a lone island in a world dominated by the philosophy of force". FDR clearly saw danger to USA democracy itself from Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy.
FDR uses very strong imagery to articulate that danger to USA and the danger of isolationism in USA in these sentences: "Such an island may be the dream of those who still talk and vote as isolationists. Such an island represents to me and to the overwhelming majority of Americans today a helpless nightmare of a people without freedom-the nightmare of a people lodged in prison, handcuffed, hungry, and fed through the bars from day to day by the contemptuous, unpitying masters of other continents."
There was no mention of Japan or Japanese imperialism in this speech. The focus of USA was on Europe and while FDR did have an eye on Asia including the ongoing Japanese war against China that does not seem to have been so significant to him as the ongoing war in Europe.
To address these dangers to freedom and democracy in USA, FDR argues for USA providing material resources [which I think refers to arms (equipment), ammunition and raw materials] of USA to the Allies (Britain and France) and to speed up harnessing those resources to provide equipment and training to USA itself (and others in the Americas) making it (them?) "equal to the task of any emergency and every defense".
In this 2013 blog post: https://www.cfr.org/blog/twe-remembers-fdrs-stab-back-speech , James M. Lindsay states that FDR had scrawled this harsh sentence in the text of the his typewritten speech: "On this tenth day of June, 1940, the hand that held the dagger has struck it into the back of its neighbor." The post adds "A variant of that line had been in an earlier version of the speech. FDR had taken it from a letter the French premier Paul Reynaud had sent that morning saying that “This very hour, another dictatorship has stabbed France in the back.’’ Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles argued, however, that the stab-in-the-back metaphor was inflammatory and should be dropped. FDR agreed—a least for a time. On the train ride down to Charlottesville he and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt discussed the merits of observing diplomatic niceties versus speaking candidly. In the end, FDR opted for candor."
Lindsay states that vocal isolationists saw this speech as more evidence that FDR intended to take USA into the war. He then writes:
Yet as the UVA graduates filed out of their gymnasium that rainy June evening to cheers of Wahoo Wah!, the die had been cast. As Time magazine put it, with the speech “the U.S. had taken sides. Ended was the myth of U.S. neutrality.” Within a week, FDR nominated Henry Stimson to be secretary of war and Frank Knox to be secretary of the navy. Both men were Republicans. More significantly, both men staunchly favored aiding Britain. Many epic political battles were yet to be fought, over a peacetime draft, the trading of old destroyers for bases, and letting Britain buy weapons from the United States. But as FDR returned to Washington that night having given what would be remembered as his stab-in-the-back speech, even though he never used those precise words, he was intent on ensuring that the United States did not become “a lone island in a world dominated by the philosophy of force.”
--- end extract from cfr.org blog post of Lindsay ---
The FDR book states:
Listening to the president (making above speech) on the radio, Churchill (British Prime Minister) could scarcely contain his enthusiasm. "We all listened to you last night and were fortified by the grand scope of your declaration. Your statement that the material aid of the United States will be given to the Allies in their struggle is a strong encouragement in a dark but not unhopeful hour. Everything must be done to keep France in the fight. The hope with which you inspired them may give them the strength to persevere....I send you my heartfelt thanks and those of my colleagues for all you are doing and seeking to do for what we may now indeed call a common cause." As per https://dc.etsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3210&context=etd this seems to be part of a message sent by Winston Churchill to FDR on 11th June 1940.
France continued to have a tough time in the war. On 14th June 1940 the Germans entered Paris. France surrendered to Germany on 22nd June (Hitler personally came for the surrender ceremony which was held in the same railway car in which the 1918 armistice had been signed).
As per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Hines_Woodring, on 20th June 1940 FDR removed Henry Woodring from position of Secretary of War. Note that Harry Woodring was not in favour of USA providing arms & material to the Allies. In his place, Henry Stimson from the Republican Party, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_L._Stimson, was made Secretary of War on or around 20th June 1940. As per the FDR book, Stimson had earlier made a public speech (Yale commencement speech) where he "had asked for repeal of the Neutrality Act in its entirety, reinstitution of the draft, and the use of the U.S. Navy to convoy supplies to Britain". Stimson remained Secretary of War till 21st Sept. 1945 which was a few weeks after end of World War 2.
At the same time, FDR made Frank Knox, another Republican, Secretary of the Navy. Knox was also in favour of providing arms & material to Britain and making USA ready to face the threat of war. Interestingly, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Knox, states that around one and a half years later: "On December 7, 1941, Knox flanked by his assistant John O’Keefe walked into Roosevelt's White House study at approximately 1:30 p.m. EST announcing that Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor. Knox was mentioned by name in Adolf Hitler's speech of December 11, 1941, in which Hitler asked for a German declaration of war against the United States."
On 28th June 1940, the Republican Party chose Wendell L. Willkie as its nominee for President of USA in the November 1940 election. Willkie was not an isolationist/non-interventionist i.e. he was in favour of providing arms and material to Allies.
Meanwhile there was some isolationist resistance in US Congress. The FDR book states, "On June 28, 1940, at the behest of Senator David I. Walsh of Massachusetts, chairman of the Naval Affairs Committee, Congress amended the defense appropriations bill to prohibit the sale of military equipment to any foreign power unless the chief of staff of the Army and the chief of naval operations certified it to be nonessential to national defense. .. The act placed enormous pressure on General Marshall and Admiral Harold R. Stark, the chief of naval operations, both of whom worried increasingly about the denuded state of America's defenses."
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_I._Walsh :
David Ignatius Walsh (November 11, 1872 – June 11, 1947) was a United States politician from Massachusetts. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 46th Governor of Massachusetts before serving several terms in the United States Senate.
...
Immediately following the defeat of France, Walsh was the sponsor, along with Senator Vinson, of the Vinson–Walsh Act of July 1940 that increased the size of the U.S. Navy by 70 percent. It included seven battleships, 18 aircraft carriers and 15,000 aircraft.[39]
In the Senate, Walsh was a consistent isolationist[40] He supported American neutrality with respect to the Spanish Civil War[41] and opposed an American alliance with the United Kingdom until the attack on Pearl Harbor. Speaking in the Senate on June 21, 1940, he denounced Roosevelt's plans to provide armaments to Great Britain:[42]
'I say it is too risky, too dangerous, to try to determine how far we can go tapping the resources of our own Government and furnishing naval vessels, air planes, powder and bombs. It is trampling on dangerous ground. It is moving toward the edge of a precipice—a precipice of stupendous and horrifying depths ... I do not want our forces deprived of one gun, or one bomb, or one ship which can aid that American boy whom you and I may some day have to draft. I want every instrument. I want every bomb. I want every plane. I want every boat ready and available. So I can say when and if it becomes necessary to draft him: "Young man, you have every possible weapon of defense your Government can give you."'
[References:]
39. Spencer C. Tucker, ed., Encyclopedia of World War II: A Political, Social, and Military History (ACB-CLIO, 2005), 1541
40. Alfred Steinberg, Sam Johnson's Boy: A Close-Up of the President from Texas (NY: Macmillan Company, 1968), 138
41. J. David Valaik, "Catholics, Neutrality, and the Spanish Embargo, 1937–1939," in Journal of American History, v. 54 (1967), 78–79
42. Doris Kearns Goodwin, No Ordinary Times, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II (NY: Simon & Schuster, 1994), 65–66
--- end extract from David I Walsh wiki page ---
The FDR book states, "The isolationist sentiment on Capitol Hill [US Congress] removed the last doubts Roosevelt had about seeking a third term. FDR now saw himself more as commander in chief than president and recognized the necessity to prepare the nation for war."
1940 Democratic Party National Convention
The Democratic (Party) National Convention convened on 15th July 1940 in Chicago.
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_I._Walsh#World_War_II
At the 1940 Democratic National Convention, where Walsh supported James Farley for president rather than FDR,[43] he and his fellow isolationist Senator Burton Wheeler of Montana proposed a plank for the party platform that read: "We will not participate in foreign wars and we will not send our army or navy or air force to fight in foreign lands outside of the Americas." When the President added the words "except in case of attack", they accepted the change.[44]
43. Trout 292–93
44. Jean Edward Smith, FDR (NY: Random House, 2007), 458
--- end extract from David I Walsh wiki page ---
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1940_Democratic_National_Convention
[From the overview/introduction section:]
The 1940 Democratic National Convention was held at the Chicago Stadium in Chicago, Illinois from July 15 to July 18, 1940. The convention resulted in the nomination of President Franklin D. Roosevelt for an unprecedented third term. Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace from Iowa was nominated for vice president.
Despite the unprecedented bid for a third term, Roosevelt was nominated on the first ballot. Roosevelt's most formidable challengers were his former campaign manager James Farley and Vice President John Nance Garner.
...
[From the details section:]
By the convention Farley and Vice President John Nance Garner were declared candidates, and Paul McNutt was a possibility.[4] Roosevelt still did not want to declare openly for re-nomination, so his backers arranged a stunt at the convention. Roosevelt dictated a message on the phone to Kentucky Senator Alben Barkley, which Barkley read out to the convention during the first day's proceedings. It concluded
The President has never had, and has not today, any desire or purpose to continue in the office of President, to be a candidate for that office, or to be nominated by the convention for that office. He wishes in earnestness and sincerity to make it clear that all of the delegates in this convention are free to vote for any candidate.[4]
One biographer wrote that Barkley's message "can scarcely be said to have conveyed the whole or literal truth".[4] When it ended, the convention sat in shocked silence for a moment. The silence was then broken by a voice thundering over the stadium loudspeakers: "We want Roosevelt! We want Roosevelt!" The voice was Thomas D. Garry, Superintendent of Chicago's Department of Sanitation (the sewers department), a trusted henchman of Chicago Mayor Ed Kelly. Garry was stationed in a basement room with a microphone, waiting for that moment. Kelly had posted hundreds of Chicago city workers and precinct captains around the hall; other Democratic bosses had brought followers from their home territories. All of them joined Garry's chant. Within a few seconds, hundreds of delegates joined in. Many poured into the aisles, carrying state delegation standards for impromptu demonstrations. Whenever the chant began to die down, state chairmen, who also had microphones connected to the speakers, added their own endorsements: "New Jersey wants Roosevelt! Arizona wants Roosevelt! Iowa wants Roosevelt!"[5]
The effect of the "voice from the sewers" was overwhelming. The next day Roosevelt was nominated by an 86% majority.
[References:]
4. Gunther, John (1950). Roosevelt in Retrospect. Harper & Brothers. pp. 308–309.
5. Edward Joseph Kelly obituary, Time
--- end extract from 1940 Democratic National Convention wiki page ---
So FDR got nominated as Democratic Party candidate for president in November 1940 election with his primary opponent being Republican Party's nominee for President, Wendell L. Willkie.
Interestingly, independent of President Roosevelt and his administration, USA Congress saw legislation (bill) for a peacetime draft being introduced in the Senate by Edward R. Burke, a Democrat from Nebraska on June 20th 1940, and in the House on June 21st by James Wadsworth, a Republican from New York. [A draft is a compulsory requirement for persons of a certain age to enlist for national service.] Initially this bill met with a lot of opposition with arguments made that voluntary enlistment would be more appropriate (to meet defense needs of USA).
FDR privately encouraged the effort. Secretary of War, Stimson and chief of staff of US Army, Marshall testified in US Congress supporting the bill. As per FDR book, Stimson told Congress, "Selective service was the only fair, efficient, and democratic way to raise an army" while Marshall said that "except by the draft" there was "no conceivable way" to raise the number of men needed to defend the nation.
Germany attacks Britain
Meanwhile Nazi Germany had started air attacks on British shipping on 10th July 1940 which later, from 13th August 1940, extended to air bases, aircraft factories and radar stations in southeastern England (as per https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Britain-European-history-1940 ).
As per FDR book, FDR first publicly supported the draft on 2nd August 1940. Republican Party nominee Wendell Willkie also publicly supported the bill on 17th August 1940, ignoring immediate political benefits he may have had in the upcoming election by opposing the bill and thereby winning support of isolationists. The FDR book states, 'Willkie's support for the draft "broke the back" of the opposition, said California's isolationist senator Hiram Johnson.' After some efforts to bring in an amendment to the bill which eventually was stripped, on 14th September the bill passed the Senate 47-25 and the House 232-124. On 16th September (1940), FDR signed it into law.
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_Training_and_Service_Act_of_1940
The Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, also known as the Burke–Wadsworth Act, Pub.L. 76–783, 54 Stat. 885, enacted September 16, 1940,[1] was the first peacetime conscription in United States history. This Selective Service Act required that men who had reached their 21st birthday but had not yet reached their 36th birthday register with local draft boards. Later, when the U.S. entered World War II, all men from their 18th birthday until the day before their 45th birthday were made subject to military service, and all men from their 18th birthday until the day before their 65th birthday were required to register.[2]
[References:]
1. 232–124 in the House, with 186 Democrats and 46 Republicans in favor, 32 Democrats, 88 Republicans, and 4 others against. 47–25 in the Senate, with 40 Democrats and 7 Republicans in favor, 13 Democrats, 10 Republicans, and 2 others against. "Final Roll-Calls on Draft Bill", The New York Times, September 15, 1940
2. United States v. Groupp, 459 F.2d 178, at para 4 (1st Cir. 26 April 1972).
--- end extract from wiki page of Selective Training and Service Act ---
As per the FDR book, the first 16,000 inductees reported for duty in October 1940, and later over the 1941 year this draft inducted 600,000 men into active duty. Note that US entered formally into World War 2 on 8th Dec. 1941 by declaring war on Japan after Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor a day earlier. So even before US formal entry into World War 2, it had around 600,000 men inducted via this draft into active military duty.
Churchill was repeatedly asking FDR to supply Britain destroyers as Britain's naval vessels had come down to 68 in June 1940 and they had to protect its trade routes as well as protect Britain from sea invasion by Germany. Due to isolationist opposition in Congress, getting Congress authorization to provide 50 destroyers to Britain was difficult for FDR.
As per FDR book, on 31st July Churchill sent a message to FDR, "It is some time since I ventured to cable personally to you. .. In the past ten days we have had eleven destroyers sunk or damaged. ... Destroyers are frightfully vulnerable to air-bombing, and yet they must be held in the air-bombing area to prevent sea-borne invasion. We could not keep up the present rate of casualties for long, and if we cannot get a substantial reinforcement the whole fate of the war may be decided by this minor and easily remediable factor. This is a frank account of our present situation, and I am confident that you will leave nothing undone to ensure that fifty or sixty of your oldest destroyers are sent to me at once. ... Mr. President, with great respect I must tell you that in the long history of the world this is a thing to do now."
US Destroyers for British Bases Deal
The US cabinet convened on 2nd August (1940). The suggestion of trading US destroyers for British bases in the West Indies was discussed. Public support increased for helping out the British with US destroyers.
FDR's team discussed the matter with Wendell Willkie, Republican party nominee for president, seeking his support for the deal. As per FDR book, Willkie did not explicitly provide support for it as he was advised not to do so by former President Herbert Hoover and others. However Willkie said he gave "wholehearted support for the president in whatever action he might take to give the opponents of force the material resources of the nation" and that "the loss of the British fleet would greatly weaken our defense."
FDR was provided an official opinion from the Attorney General that the president as commander-in-chief had the authority to trade destroyers for bases (bypassing need for Congress authorization). The deal was ready to be struck.
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destroyers-for-bases_deal :
The destroyers-for-bases deal was an agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom on September 2, 1940, according to which 50 Caldwell, Wickes, and Clemson class US Navy destroyers were transferred to the Royal Navy from the United States Navy in exchange for land rights on British possessions.
Generally referred to as the "twelve hundred-ton type" (also known as "flush-deck", or "four-pipers" after their four funnels), the destroyers became the British Town class and were named after towns common to both the US and Britain.[1] Roosevelt used an executive agreement that did not require Congressional approval, but he came under heavy attack from antiwar political elements. The agreement violated the Neutrality Acts.[2]
...
By August [1940], while Britain reached a low point, US Ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy reported from London that a British surrender was "inevitable". Seeking to persuade Roosevelt to send the destroyers, Churchill warned Roosevelt ominously that if Britain were vanquished, its colonial islands close to American shores could become a direct threat to America if they fell into German hands.
Deal
President Roosevelt approved the deal on the evening of August 30, 1940.[6] On September 2, 1940, as the Battle of Britain intensified, Secretary of State Cordell Hull signaled agreement to the transfer of the warships to the Royal Navy. On September 3, 1940, Admiral Harold Stark certified that the destroyers were not vital to the security of the US. In exchange, the US was granted land in various British possessions for the establishment of naval or air bases with rent-free, 99-year leases, on:
* Newfoundland
* Eastern side of the Bahamas
* Southern coast of Jamaica
* Western coast of Saint Lucia
* West coast of Trinidad (Gulf of Paria)
* Antigua
* British Guiana (present day Guyana) within fifty miles of Georgetown
The agreement also granted the US air and naval base rights in:
* The Great Sound and Castle Harbour, Bermuda
* South and eastern coasts of Newfoundland
[References:]
1. Syrett, David (1994). The Defeat of the German U-boats: The Battle of the Atlantic. Univ of South Carolina Press. p. 10. ISBN 9780872499843.
2. Burns, James MacGregor (1956). Roosevelt: The Lion and the Fox. Easton Press. ISBN 978-0-15-678870-0., p. 438
6. Goodhart, Philip (1965). 50 Ships That Saved the World. New York: Doubleday. p. 175.
--- end extracts from Destroyers for bases deal wiki page ---
Final Weeks of 1940 US Presidential Campaign
Willkie's campaign was faltering with polls in late September indicating that FDR's lead over him was 12 points. The FDR book states, "Pressed by his Republican handlers to become more aggressive, Willkie reversed course on foreign policy." Willkie said on October 11th (1940), "We shall not undertake to fight anybody else's war. Our boys shall stay out of European wars."
Willkie attacked FDR's promise to keep USA out of war as insincere. As per the FDR book, Willkie said, "If [Roosevelt's] promise to keep our boys out of foreign wars is no better than his promise to balance the budget, they're already almost on the transports."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1940_United_States_presidential_election has a similar view. It states, 'Willkie also accused Roosevelt of leaving the nation unprepared for war, but Roosevelt's military buildup and transformation of the nation into the "Arsenal of Democracy" removed the "unpreparedness" charge as a major issue. Willkie then reversed his approach and charged Roosevelt with secretly planning to take the nation into World War II. This accusation did cut into Roosevelt's support. In response, Roosevelt, in a pledge that he would later regret, promised that he would "not send American boys into any foreign wars."'
The FDR book states that Willkie said in speech in Baltimore: "On the basis of [Roosevelt's] past performance, you may expect war by April, 1941, if he is elected".
FDR who had not campaigned much so far, decided to make five campaign speeches in the final two weeks before the election.
As per FDR book, on October 23rd, FDR said in a campaign rally: "I give to you and to the people of this country this most solemn assurance: There is no secret treaty, no secret obligation, no secret commitment, no secret understanding in any shape or form, direct or indirect, with any other Government, to involve this nation in any war or for any other purpose." In another speech a few days later FDR launched an attack on Republican Party leadership.
In another campaign speech, as per FDR book, FDR said, "I have said before, but I shall say it again and again and again. Your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars."
FDR's final campaign speech was on 2nd November 1940. It's text (and audio of some parts) is available here: https://www.historyonthenet.com/authentichistory/1939-1945/1-war/1-39-41/19401102_FDR_Cleveland_Campaign_Speech.html.
Given below is a pic of a part of over 20,000 crowd gathered to hear this speech of FDR in Cleveland, Ohio's public auditorium:
[To open pic in larger resolution, right-click on pic followed by open link (NOT image) in new tab/window. In new tab/window you may have to click on pic to zoom in.]
The speech is a remarkable one covering defending USA, defending freedom & democracy in USA, the crisis in Europe where many democratic countries were under rule of Nazis, Italian fascists or Soviet communists, with Britain being under grave attack by Nazi Germany, as well as New Deal related economic benefits especially for working classes. I have given below some extracts from the speech about USA defense and freedom & democracy in USA, and war crisis in Europe:
--- start large extracts of speech from https://www.historyonthenet.com ---
This generation of Americans is living in a tremendous moment of history.
The surge of events abroad has made some few doubters among us ask: Is this the end of a story that has been told? Is the book of democracy now to be closed and placed away upon the dusty shelves of time?
My answer is this: All we have known of the glories of democracy-its freedom, its efficiency as a mode of living, its ability to meet the aspirations of the common man— all these are merely an introduction to the greater story of a more glorious future.
We Americans of today—all of us—we are characters in this living book of democracy.
But we are also its author. It falls upon us now to say whether the chapters that are to come will tell a story of retreat or a story of continued advance.
I believe that the American people will say: "Forward!"
We look at the old world of Europe today. It is an ugly world, poisoned by hatred and greed and fear. We can see what has been the inevitable consequence of that poison—war.
We look at the country in which we live. It is a great country, built by. generations of peaceable, friendly men and women who had in their hearts faith that the good life can be attained by those who will work for it.
We know that we are determined to defend our country—and with our neighbors to defend this Hemisphere. We are strong in our defense. Every hour and every day we grow stronger.
Our foreign policy is shaped to express the determination of our Government and the will of our people in our dealings with other nations. Those dealings, in the past few years, have been more difficult, more complex than ever before.
There is nothing secret about our foreign policy. It is not a secret from the American people-and it is not a secret from any Government anywhere in the world. I have stated it many times before, not only in words but in action. Let me restate it like this:
The first purpose of our foreign policy is to keep our country out of war. At the same time, we seek to keep foreign conceptions of Government out of the United States.
That is why we make ourselves strong; that is why we muster all the reserves of our national strength.
The second purpose of this policy is to keep war as far away as possible from the shores of the entire Western Hemisphere. Our policy is to promote such friendly relations with the Latin-American Republics and with Canada, that the great powers of Europe and Asia will know that they cannot divide the peoples of this hemisphere one from another. And if you go from the North Pole to the South Pole, you will know that it is a policy of practical success.
Finally, our policy is to give all possible material aid to the nations which still resist aggression, across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
And let me make it perfectly clear that we intend to commit none of the fatal errors of appeasement.
We in this Nation of many States have found the way by which men of many racial origins may live together in peace.
If the human race as a whole is to survive, the world must find the way by which men and nations can live together in peace. We cannot accept the doctrine that war must be forever a part of man's destiny.
We do know what would be the foreign policy of those who are doubters about our democracy;
We do not know what would be the foreign policy of those who are obviously trying to sit on both sides of the fence at the same time. Ours is the foreign policy of an Administration which has undying faith in the strength of our democracy today, full confidence in the vitality of our democracy in the future, and a consistent record in the cause of peace.
Our strength is measured not only in terms of the might of our armaments. It is measured not only in terms of the horsepower of our machines.
The true measure of our strength lies deeply imbedded in the social and economic justice of the system in which we live.
For you can build ships and tanks and planes and guns galore; but they will not be enough. You must place behind them an invincible faith in the institutions which they have been built to defend.
The dictators have devised a new system—or, rather, a modern, streamlined version of a very ancient system.
But Americans will have none of that. They will never submit to domination or influence by Naziism or Communism. They will hesitate to support those of whom they are not absolutely sure.
For Americans are determined to retain for themselves the right of free speech, free religion, free assembly and the right which lies at the basis of all of them—the right to choose the officers of their own Government in free elections.
We intend to keep our freedom—to defend it from attacks from without and against corruption from within. We shall defend it against the forces of dictatorship, whatever disguises and false faces they may wear.
But we have learned that freedom in itself is not enough.
Freedom of speech is of no use if a man has nothing to say.
Freedom of worship is of no use to a man who has lost his God.
Democracy, to be dynamic, must provide for its citizens opportunity as well as freedom.
We of this generation have seen a rebirth of dynamic democracy in America in these past few years.
...
Of course we will not turn backward. We will not turn back because we are the inheritors of a tradition of pioneering, exploring, experimenting and adventuring. We will not be scared into retreating by threats from the doubters of democracy.
Neither will we be bribed by extravagant promises of fabulous wealth.
Those who offer such promises try to delude us with a mirage on the far horizon—a mirage of an island of dreams, with palaces and palms and plums.
And it is a curious fact of nature that a mirage is always upside down, above the horizon.
But then, the mirage—upside down or right-side up—isn't there at all.
Now you see it—and now you don't.
Of course we shall continue to strengthen all these dynamic reforms in our social and economic life; to keep the processes of democracy side by side with the necessities and possibilities of modern industrial production.
Of course we shall continue to make available the good things of life created by the genius of science and technology- to use them, however, not for the enjoyment of the few but for the welfare of all.
For there lies the road to democracy that is strong.
Of course we intend to preserve and build up the land of this country—its soil, its forests and its rivers—all the resources with which God has endowed the people of the United States.
Of course we intend to continue to build up the bodies and the minds of the men, women and children of the Nation—through democratic education and a democratic program for health.
For there lies the road to democracy that is strong.
Of course we intend to continue our efforts to protect our system of private enterprise and private property, but to protect it from monopoly of financial control on the one hand and from Communistic wrecking on the other.
Of course we shall continue our efforts to prevent economic dictatorship as well as political dictatorship.
Of course we intend to continue to build up the morale of this country, not as blind obedience to some leader, but as the expression of confidence in the deeply ethical principles upon which this Nation and its democracy were founded.
For there lies the road to democracy that is strong.
The progress of our country, as well as the defense of our country, requires national unity. We need the cooperation of every single American—our workers, the great organizers and technicians in our factories, our farmers, our professional men and women, our workers in industry, our mothers, our fathers, our youth—all the men and women who love America just a little bit more than they love themselves.
And if we can have the assistance of all these, we can promise that such a program can make this country prosperous and free and strong—to be a light of the world and a comfort to all people.
And all the forces of evil shall not prevail against it.
For so it is written in the Book, and so it is written in the moral law, and so it is written in the promise of a great era of world peace.
This Nation which is arming itself for defense has also the intelligence to save its human resources by giving them that confidence which comes from useful work.
This Nation which is creating a great navy has also found the strength to build houses and begin to clear the slums of its cities and its countryside.
This Nation which has become the industrial leader of the world has the humanity to know that the people of a free land need not suffer the disease of poverty and the dread of not being wanted.
It is the destiny of this American generation to point the road to the future for all the world to see. It is our prayer that all lovers of freedom may join us—the anguished common people of this earth for whom we seek to light the path.
...
During these years while our democracy advanced on many fields of battle, I have had the great privilege of being your President. No personal ambition of any man could desire more than that.
It is a hard task. It is a task from which there is no escape day or night.
And through it all there have been two thoughts uppermost in my mind—to preserve peace in our land; and to make the forces of democracy work for the benefit of the common people of America.
Seven years ago I started with loyal helpers and with the trust and faith and support of millions of ordinary Americans.
The way was difficult— the path was dark, but we have moved steadily forward to the open fields and the glowing light that shines ahead.
The way of our lives seems clearer now, if we but follow the charts and the guides of our democratic faith.
There is a great storm raging now, a storm that makes things harder for the world. And that storm, which did not start in this land of ours, is the true reason that I would like to stick by those people of ours until we reach the clear, sure footing ahead.
We will make it—we will make it before the next term is over.
We will make it; and the world, we hope, will make it, too.
When that term is over there will be another President, and many more Presidents in the years to come, and I think that, in the years to come, that word "President" will be a word to cheer the hearts of common men and women everywhere.
Our future belongs to us Americans.
It is for us to design it; for us to build it.
In that building of it we shall prove that our faith is strong enough to survive the most fearsome storms that have ever swept over the earth.
In the days and months and years to come, we shall be making history—hewing out a new shape for the future. And we shall make very sure that that future of ours bears the likeness of liberty.
Always the heart and the soul of our country will be the heart and the soul of the common man—the men and the women who never have ceased to believe in democracy, who never have ceased to love their families, their homes and their country.
The spirit of the common man is the spirit of peace and good will. It is the spirit of God. And in His faith is the strength of all America.
--- end large extracts of speech from https://www.historyonthenet.com ---
1940 US Presidential Election Results
FDR won the presidential election.
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1940_United_States_presidential_election#Results :
On Election Day—November 5, 1940, he [FDR] received 27.3 million votes to Willkie's 22.3 million, and in the Electoral College, he defeated Willkie by a margin of 449 to 82. Willkie did get over six million more votes than the Republican nominee in 1936, Alf Landon, and he ran strong in rural areas in the American Midwest, taking over 57% of the farm vote. Roosevelt, meanwhile, carried every American city with a population of more than 400,000 except Cincinnati, Ohio. Of the 106 cities with more than 100,000 population, he won 61% of the votes cast; in the Southern United States as a whole, he won 73% of the total vote. In the remainder of the country (the rural and small-town Northern United States), Willkie had a majority of 53%. In the cities, there was a class differential, with the white-collar and middle-class voters supporting the Republican candidate, and working class, blue-collar voters going for FDR.
--- end wiki extract ---
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1940_United_States_elections :
The Democrats gained five seats in the House of Representatives, furthering their majority over the Republicans. The Democrats also maintained a majority in the U.S. Senate; however, they lost three seats to the Republicans in that house.[3]
[Reference:]
3. "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 5, 1940" (PDF). U.S. House of Reps, Office of the Clerk. Retrieved 28 December 2011
--- end wiki extract ---
The FDR book states, (after the election results) "The hostility between Roosevelt and Willkie faded quickly. Willkie conceded gracefully and called upon the nation to cast bitterness aside and give the president the support and respect he deserved. FDR invited Willkie to the White House and took an immediate liking to him."
I do not plan to put up posts on similar lines for later years of World War 2. My interest in putting up this post and the earlier post was to capture how FDR reacted politically to Nazi Germany aggression followed by fascist Italy aggression in Europe, countered isolationism and non-interventionism in USA political arena, and finally decided to run for, and win, an unprecedented 3rd term as US president so as to continue to play commander-in-chief of US armed forces role and steer USA towards supporting those countries who fought for freedom & democracy against Naziism and fascism.
[I thank Wikipedia, publishers & author of FDR book mentioned above, millercenter.org, cfr.org and www.historyonthenet.com, and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above extract(s) from their websites and book (small extracts from FDR book) on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever. Thanks to wikimedia.org for a pic used in this post.]
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