Isolationism

Challenges to Isolationism

When war broke out in 1939 FDR issued proclamation of neutrality
Unlike Wilson in 1914 he pointedly refrained from urging Americans to be neutral in thought as well as action
Most Americans, while determined to stay out of the war, hoped for Allied victory
FDR wanted a way to send arms and supplies to Allies so he called Congress into special session to revise neutrality legislation

Neutrality Act 1939

Passed on November 4^th after 6 weeks’ debate
Repealed arms embargo
Allowed arms to be bought on ‘cash and carry’ basis
Retained ban on US loans to nations at war
Banned US ships from entering ‘combat zones’ as designated by the President
FDR got essentially what he wanted but had to make concessions to isolationists
Most Americans satisfied with the compromise
Confident that with the limited aid now available GB and France capable of defeating Nazis

German Victories

Spring 1940 American optimistic assumptions shattered
Nazi forces overran Denmark, Norway, Low Countries, British escaped at Dunkirk and Paris fell, France surrendered
Fall of France in 5 weeks shocked USA
Now they realised their peril
Few expected a German attack but whole basis of US strategic thinking undermined
Namely that Atlantic sea lanes would remain in friendly hands
Now only GB facing Hitler
If GB was beaten he would control all the eastern Atlantic, and with Fascist Italy, the Mediterranean and North Africa
If the Axis acquired the GB and French fleets they would have an overwhelming naval superiority over USA

FDR’s reaction

First strengthen US defences
Asked for and obtained huge additional funding to expand army and navy and make 50,000 planes a year
June 1940 set up National Defense Research Committee to coordinate work on new weapons
It was this body that went on to develop the proximity fuse and atomic bomb
September he urged a Selective Service and Training Act on Congress
So for the first time US had peacetime conscription

Destroyers for Bases

June 10^th 1940 FDR announced policy of all-out aid to GB
Used legal loophole to circumvent Neutrality Act
Ordered War and Navy Departments to transfer ‘surplus’ planes, guns and ammo to GB
GB lost most of its equipment at Dunkirk
GB faced air attack, U-boat blockade and invasion
Churchill asked for 50 old US destroyers but FDR unsure
Knew isolationists would oppose such an un-neutral act
So he suggested they be exchanged for bases in British colonies
These were on 99 year leases in 6 colonies from Bahamas to British Guiana
Similar leases given as outright gifts in Bermuda and Newfoundland
Churchill promised never to scuttle or surrender the Royal Navy
It allowed FDR to represent the deal as enhancing US security at little cost
Most saw the bases as a major defensive asset
But many questioned the devious way FDR had engineered the deal

The Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies

Found May 1940
Chairman W.A. White, a Kansas newspaper editor
Ran effective propaganda campaign that GB was first line of American defence
Urged all possible aid short of war
Most came from Eastern and Western seaboards and the south
Especially old-stock Americans who had ties with GB and ethnic groups eg Jews whose countrymen suffered under Nazis
Most of Committee against war
Militant faction – New York based Century Group wanted intervention

The America First Committee

Organised opposition to FDR’s Foreign Policy
Came into existence 2 days after destroyers for bases agreement
Promoted by some Chicago businessmen
Won support of prominent men: President Hoover, Charles Lindbergh, GP Nye and BK Wheeler (isolationist senators)
The movement was not wholly sectional or partisan
Largest support from mid-West as they were remote from any potential enemy, also Republicans – they distrusted FDR
Believed Hitler was no threat to USA
America Firsters aimed to keep out of war and avoid risks inherent in aiding GB
Wanted to build impregnable US defence
Movement was embarrassed and its reputation tarnished by support from Coughlinites, other anti-Semites, Communists (until USSR was attacked) and Nazi sympathisers (German-American Bund)

1940 Presidential Election – nominations

Foreign Policy issues to the fore
Republican nomination seemed at first to be between TE Dewey, the young “racket-busting” New York DA and Senator RA Taft of Ohio, a relentless foe of FDR’s New Deal and Foreign Policy
As Nazis overran Europe, Dewey’s inexperience in Foreign Policy damaged his chances
Taft’s narrow isolationism did not accord with national mood
The Eastern Republicans who had backed Dewey now turned to Wendell Wilkie of Indiana
He was an internationalist and liberal-minded corporation lawyer and utilities executive
Nominated on 6^th ballot
FDR silent about a possible third term until Democrats met in July
Some historians believe he decided to run for re-election but with characteristic deviousness chose to kill off the chances of potential rivals while seeming to encourage some of them
Others say he was anxious to retire but when no clear successor emerged reluctantly ran to keep Party in liberal hands and ensure continuity at a time of world crisis
He was overwhelmingly nominated in defiance of the 2 term tradition
With less enthusiasm they accepted his vice-presidential nomination – Secretary of Agriculture, Henry Wallace, an advanced liberal

The Election Campaign

Both candidates in essential agreement about Foreign Policy – the main campaign issue
Wilkie said FDR would plunge US into war in 6 months
FDR replied that American boys would not “be sent into any foreign war”
Impression persisted that Democrats were less isolationist than Republicans
FDR suffered defections from German/Italian/Irish Americans
Gained support of East Euro Americans whose homelands were conquered
FDR won comfortably
Wilkie though ran much more strongly than Landon in 1936 and he recovered much of the farm vote in traditional Republican states in Mid-West

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