Franklin D. Roosevelt: Four Freedoms Message to Congress

Context

By the time of Roosevelt's reelection in 1936, conditions in Europe under the dictatorships of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini were deteriorating rapidly. In Germany, Hitler promised to restore the nation to its rightful place. The Treaty of Versailles, which had ended World War I, required Germany to pay war reparations to England and France, imposed limitations on German military size and power, and redistributed German territory—all in an effort to weaken the nation's potential to wage war on such a scale again. The terms of the treaty rankled Germany to no end. Its pride wounded and its economy drastically eroded by rampant inflation and the effects of the worldwide depression of the 1930s, Germany was ripe for a leader with promises of newfound glory and military prowess. Not long after Hitler rose to chancellor in 1933, he embarked on a campaign of aggression that increasingly recognized no boundaries.

As Hitler's armies marched through Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland in the late 1930s, the United States was deeply divided as to how it should respond. Americans were haunted by memories of World War I, including disgust with the new technology of war and the failure of Woodrow Wilson's vision for the League of Nations. Critics at home dissected America's participation in World War I. Senator Gerald Nye’s committee to investigate the munitions industry's activities during wartime issued a report describing the manufacturers as “merchants of death” who profited handsomely from the war (Kennedy, pp. 385–386). These ghosts of World War I as well as a deepening economic crisis at home made many Americans, including Republican senators, favor a policy of neutrality. Seeking to avoid the very pitfalls that had drawn America into World War I in 1936, Congress renewed the year-old Neutrality Act, which prevented arms sales to either side and prohibited American ships from carrying arms to belligerent nations. The 1936 act included a new clause banning loans to governments at war.

After Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, Hitler's militaristic motives were clear to all. Roosevelt faced a dilemma: how to respond to a deteriorating international situation while maintaining political viability at home. On September 5, 1939, Roosevelt proclaimed America's neutrality, just two days after Britain and France declared war against Germany. Roosevelt knew, however, that most Americans sided with Britain even if they opposed any direct involvement in the hostilities. He proposed what became the Neutrality Act of 1939, which allowed belligerents to pay cash for American supplies and transport these supplies using non-American ships. Congress passed the act by a large margin, representing a subtle but important shift in America's stance in the European conflict.

As Hitler's offensive spread through Western Europe and as the Germans began their aerial assault on Britain, the new British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, pleaded desperately with Roosevelt for help. Britain had virtually no cash to pay for supplies, but was defenseless in the face of Hitler's attack. Roosevelt initially provided fifty aged U.S. naval destroyers to Britain in exchange for ninety-nine-year leases on several British military bases. After his reelection in November 1940, Roosevelt devised a plan to expand aid to Britain—this became the Lend-Lease Act. Using the image of a neighbor borrowing a garden hose to fight a fire, Roosevelt proposed that America would lend supplies to Britain with no expectation of payment but would expect to receive the materials back after the war.

Roosevelt also feared America's lack of preparedness for war. The nation was poorly equipped to defend itself, much less provide aid to Europe. Given the rapid expansion of German, Italian, and Japanese military aggression, Roosevelt saw no reason why the Americas might not be likely targets. His reelection campaign successfully completed, Roosevelt had political breathing room to publicly float his plan for increased involvement. The response to his December 29, 1940, radio address to the nation, in which he called for America to serve as “the great arsenal of democracy,” was overwhelmingly favorable. In his Four Freedoms Message of January 6, 1941, the president presented the Lend-Lease program to Congress, along with a plan for American preparedness, arguing that this action was necessary to protect and preserve democratic freedoms throughout the world. Roosevelt not only sealed the passage of the Lend-Lease Act but also established an ideological view of America’s role in World War II that remains with us today.