The New Deal Succumbs to War: 1940 - 1943

     As France fell to Germany in the spring and early summer of 1940, Britain stood alone to face the Nazi blitzkrieg across Europe.  President Roosevelt began pressuring Congress to provide "all aid short of war" to Britain.  On September 2, 1940, Roosevelt brokered a destroyers-for-bases agreement with Britain:  the United States received 99-year leases on eight British naval bases in the Caribbean and Newfoundland; the Royal Navy received 50 old U.S. destroyers.  This deal caused an intense foreign policy debate:  should the United States help Britain or maintain a neutral stance in the European theater?  The deal and resulting public debate occurred just weeks before the national election of 1940, with Roosevelt seeking an unprecedented third term.  While he earned his third term on November 5, 1940,--gathering 55% of the popular vote to Republican Wendell Willkie's 45%---his margin of victory fell below 1932 and 1936 levels.  Several factors contributed to the election result:  1) the "court packing" scheme of 1937, 2) the attempted purge of conservative Democrats during the midterm elections of 1938, and 3) concerns over "King" Roosevelt vis-a-vis his disregard of the two-term tradition.  Perhaps it was simpler:  voters feared that he would lead the nation into war.  

     During the 1940 Presidential election campaign, Roosevelt promised to keep the country out of the war.  However, he wanted to support Britain and viewed the United States as a "great arsenal of democracy."  In January 1941, Roosevelt made good on both fronts by proposing a new military aid bill to Congress.  (See H.R. 1776, The Lend-Lease Bill, dated January 10, 1941, here.)  Roosevelt's plan was to "lend-lease or otherwise dispose of arms" and other supplies needed by any country whose security was vital to the defense of the United States.  On March 11, 1941, Congress passed the Lend-Lease Act.  Britain would receive much needed military aid, and the United States would increase military production while remaining neutral on the war front, at least until December 7, 1941, and the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  

     During 1942, military spending and employment in the armed forces and defense industries increased, signaling the marginalization of New Deal agencies devoted to public works and work relief.  From June 1942 to January 1944, some of the most significant New Deal agencies closed their doors for good, specifically, the Civilian Conservation Corps (ended June 30, 1942), 2) the Works Progress Administration (ended June 30, 1943), 3) the Public Works Administration (terminated by Executive Order on June 30, 1943), 4) the Section of Fine Arts, formerly known as the Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture (ended July 15, 1943), and 5) the National Youth Administration (ended January 1, 1944).  Collectively, these New Deal agencies had provided employment, and hope, to more than 10 million Americans.  As New Deal agencies ended or were terminated, many of the affected men and women found work in new places, including shipyards, hydroelectric power plants, munition factories, and military bases.  In fact, the war industry created a surplus of jobs, offering new and unique opportunities for the working women of the country.  In the end, massive government expenditures on war production provided the economic recovery that President Roosevelt had envisioned with the New Deal.

     The documents and events presented below highlight significant events from 1941 to 1943; they all have a common theme:  the words and passion of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  He speaks in simple, direct words to his fellow Americans, albeit with a divided world listening as well.  He calls for four freedoms for people everywhere in the world and ultimately assesses the type of caretaker his beloved country needs in its time of greatest need.  His voice and words inspire to this very day.  No one else but  "Doctor" Roosevelt could have guided his patients--Americans seeking employment, security and hope--on the arduous path from the Great Depression to a New Deal to World War.  

During a press conference on December 28, 1943, Douglas Cornell, Associated Press, posed the following question to President Roosevelt, "Mr. President, after our last meeting with you, it appears that someone (Dilworth Lupton, Cleveland Press) stayed  behind and received word that you no longer liked the term "New Deal."  Would you care to express any opinion to the rest of us?"  After validating the accuracy of Mr. Lupton's assertion, President Roosevelt responded:

 "And of course, the net of it is that --how did the New Deal come into existence? It was because there was an awfully sick patient called the United States of America, and it was suffering from a grave internal disorder -- awfully sick -- all kinds of things that happened to this patient, all internal things. And they sent for the doctor. And it was a long, long process -- took several years before those ills, in that particular illness of ten years ago, were remedied.  And on all those ills of 1933, things had to be done to cure the patient internally.  And it was done -- took a number of years. . . . 

But since then, two years ago [the bombing of Pearl Harbor], he had a very bad accident, not an internal trouble.  Two years ago on the seventh of December, he was in a pretty bad smashup -- broke his hip, broke his leg in two or three places, broke a wrist and an arm, and some ribs; and they didn't think he would live, for a while.  And then he began to "come to"; and he has been in charge of a partner of the old doctor.  Old Doctor New Deal didn't know "nothing" about legs and arms.  He knew a great deal about internal medicine, but nothing about surgery. So, he got his partner, who was an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Win-The-War, to take care of this fellow who had been in this bad accident. And the result is that the patient is back on his feet.  He has given up his crutches.  He isn't wholly well yet and he won't be until he wins the war." 

In the telling of this story, President Roosevelt contended that "Old Doctor New Deal" provided remedies that were a product of the times, specifically Depression-era America.  Roosevelt rattled off an extensive list of remedies provided by "Old Doctor New Deal":  he had rescued the U.S. banking system, saved homes and farms from foreclosure, established social security benefits for the young, physically challenged, and elderly, improved the infrastructure of roads and dams, etc.  Roosevelt closed this portion of the press conference with the following words:

"Well, my list just totaled up to thirty, and I probably left out half of them.  But at the present time, obviously the -- the principal emphasis, the overwhelming first emphasis should be on winning the war.  In other words, we are suffering from that bad accident, not from an internal disease."

The realities of World War demanded more than a skilled internist; they required a surgeon, "Dr Win-the-War."  Ultimately, the New Deal would be overtaken by the start of the World War II military machine, an antecedent to the establishment of a military industrial complex that President Eisenhower warned against in his farewell address of January 17, 1961.