The New Deal Succumbs to War: 1940 - 1943
Robert F. Sargent, Chief Photographer's Mate, U.S. Navy
Records of the U.S. Coast Guard; National Archives & Records Administration
Embedded Files
THE NEW DEAL SUCCUMBS TO A WORLD AT 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.
FDR Signs Lend-Lease Act, 03-11-1941
Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress (Download here)
Lend-Lease Act, 03-11-1941
General Records of the U.S. Government; National Archives & Records Administration (Download here)
"Line up of some of women welders including the women's welding champion of Ingalls [Shipbuilding Corp., Pascagoula, MS]," 1943
Records of the Women's Bureau, National Archives & Records Administration (Download here)
FOUR FREEDOMS IN A TIME OF WAR: 1941 to 1943
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Audio only of "FDR Four Freedoms Speech," 01-06-1941
FDR Presidential Library & Museum; National Archives & Records Administration
(Download here)
January 6, 1941: President Roosevelt delivers the State of the Union address which becomes known as his Four Freedoms speech. He calls for freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom from want, and freedom from fear, for people “everywhere in the world.”
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Text of "FDR Four Freedoms Speech," 01-06-1941
FDR Presidential Library & Museum; National Archives & Records Administration
(Download here)
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Audio only of "FDR Third Inaugural Address," 01-20-1941
FDR Presidential Library & Museum; National Archives & Records Administration
(Download here)
January 20, 1941: During his third inaugural address, President Roosevelt tolls the bell of democracy: “Most vital to our present and to our future is this experience of a democracy which successfully survived crisis at home; put away many evil things; built new structures on enduring lines; and, through it all, maintained the fact of its democracy.”
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Text of "FDR Third Inaugural Address," 01-20-1941
FDR Presidential Library & Museum; National Archives & Records Administration
(Download here)
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"Japanese Planes Bomb Pearl Harbor, USS Arizona Explodes & Sinks," 12-07-1941
General Records of the Department of the Navy; National Archives & Records Administration
December 7, 1941: Japan attacks Pearl Harbor. American fatalities total 2,403 individuals, including 68 civilians. America’s Pacific fleet is heavily damaged. In addition, 19 U.S. navy ships, including 8 battleships, are destroyed.
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"President Franklin D. Roosevelt Declares War On Japan," 12-08-1941
War Archives
December 8, 1941: President Roosevelt informs Congress: “Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.” The United States declares war on Japan.
"S.J Resolution 116 signed by President Roosevelt on December 8, 1941 at 4:10 p.m., Public Law 77-328, 55 STAT 795, which declared war on Japan"
General Records of the U.S. Government; National Archives & Records Administration
(Download here)
"Congressional Proceedings for the Declaration of War Against Germany and Italy," 12-11-1941
Mutual Broadcasting System
December 11, 1941: Germany and Italy declare war on the United States; the United States declares war against Germany and Italy. (The declaration of war with Japan--S.J. Resolution 116--serves as the template for the resolutions for the declarations of war with Germany and Italy.)
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S.J. Resolution 119, Declaring that a state of war exists between the Government of Germany and the Government and the people of the United States and making provision to prosecute the same, 12-11-1941
General Records of the U.S. Government; National Archives & Records Administration
(Download here)
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S,J. Resolution 120, Declaring that a state of war exists between the Government of Italy and the Government and the people of the United States and making provision to prosecute the same, 12-11-1941
General Records of the U.S. Government; National Archives & Records Administration
(Download here)
"President Roosevelt Signing the Declaration of War Against Germany," 12-11-1941
Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress
(Download here)
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Audio only of "FDR State of the Union Speech," 01-06-1942
FDR Presidential Library & Museum; National Archives & Records Administration
(Download here)
January 6, 1942: In his State of the Union address, Roosevelt connects wartime production with the righteous fight for democracy: “we are fighting on the same side with the British people… the Russian people…the brave people of China…We are fighting today for security, for progress, and for peace, not only for ourselves but for all men, not only for one generation but for all generations. We are fighting to cleanse the world of ancient evils, ancient ills.”
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Text of "FDR State of the Union Speech," 01-06-1942
FDR Presidential Library & Museum; National Archives & Records Administration
(Download here)
"Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Washington D.C." 01-07-1943 (Download here)
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Audio only of "FDR State of the Union Speech," 01-07-1943 (Download here)
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Text of "FDR State of the Union Speech," 01-07-1943 (Download here)
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All files above:
FDR Presidential Library & Museum; National Archives & Records Administration
January 7, 1943: During his State of the Union address, Roosevelt revisits "freedom from want" (the third of the Four Freedoms) in relation to the post-war expectations of working Americans: “The people at home, and the people at the front, are wondering a little about the third freedom – freedom from want. To them it means that when they are mustered out, when war production is converted to the economy of peace, they will have the right to expect full employment – full employment for themselves and for all able-bodied men and women in America who want to work… They want no get-rich-quick era of bogus ‘prosperity’ which will end for them in selling apples on a street corner, as happened after the bursting of the boom in 1929.”
"OLD DOCTOR NEW DEAL" and "DR. WIN-THE-WAR"
President Roosevelt's Folksy Tale of a New Doctor for the Country
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.
Text of Franklin Delano Roosevelt Press Conference, December 28, 1943
FDR Presidential Library & Museum; National Archives & Records Administration (Download here)
Conference of the Big Three at Yalta makes final plans for the defeat of Germany, February 1945
Records of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer; National Archives & Records Administration (Download here)
One of the five last photographs taken of President Roosevelt (Warm Springs, GA), April 10 - 11, 1945
FDR Presidential Library & Museum; National Archives & Records Administration (Download here)
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