How FDR Took the U.S. into World War II.

• Author: Sempa, Francis P.
• Position: Franklin Delano Roosevelt - Brief article

How FDR Took the U.S. into World War II

By Michael Fullilove, Executive Director of the Lowy Institute

Text: http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/events/2013/7/03%20fdr%20wwii/20130703_fdr_us_world_war_two_transcript.pdf

Discussing his book Rendezvous With Destiny at a Brookings Institution event, Michael Fullilove explained how President Franklin Roosevelt "took" the United States into die Second World War.

Between 1939 and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, FDR. according to Fullilove. navigated the domestic political constraints imposed by Congress and public opinion and skillfully moved the country toward greater involvement in the war. During this time period, FDR rearmed and remobilized America and waged an undeclared naval war against Germany in the Atlantic Ocean. Fullilove credits FDR with saving democracy and launching the United States toward global leadership.

FDR's belligerent policies, Fullilove said, transformed America from an isolationist country into a global leader. The real start of the "American Century," according to Fullilove, was the two-year period prior...