Download Andrew Martini Due to the downfall of the United States economy

Andrew Martini
Due to the downfall of the United States economy, the American people wanted the
government to only focus on the wellbeing of their nation. This feeling of “noninterventionism” was incredibly strong among the American public. Groups such as “The
America First Committee” spoke out, protesting any American involvement in the
situation in Europe and Asia. However, this was not the only reason many Americans
were against intervening in European and Asian affairs of the 30s. Many Americans were
racist and prejudice against Asians and Jews. Americans such as Charles Lindbergh
viewed what Hitler was doing to Jews in Europe as beneficial. In fact, one of the most
popular radio broadcasts at the time was an extremely anti-Semitic priest named Father
Coughlin who regularly claimed support to Hitler. Due to the strength of non-intervention
opinions, President Roosevelt’s foreign policy took a non-interventionist approach. In
1935, the United States congress passed “The Neutrality Acts.” This prohibited the
United States from selling armaments to any counties, be they aggressors or victims. In
terms of foreign policy, Roosevelt rarely led public opinion. In most cases he would
follow it. However as Germany gained strength and began genocide of Jews in Europe,
public opinion changed. Franklin D. Roosevelt called for a military buildup and
submitted a $1.3 billion defense budget to Congress showing that if need be, he was
willing to fight. Soon after the budget submission, Congress changed the “Neutrality
Acts” to “Cash and Carry.” This allowed the sale of armaments to victim counties on the
basis that they had to pay first and then get the weapons. After the start of the British blitz
and the German invasion of the Soviet Union, the United States Congress replaced “Cash
and Carry” to “Lend and Lease.” This allowed unlimited amounts of armaments on credit
to nations fighting the Germans and Japanese. Although the United States were no longer
isolationists, they still remained uninvolved militarily. Unknown to the American public,
due to “Lend and Lease” Germans were destroying U.S cargo ships, starting an unofficial
naval war long before war was declared. This furthered U.S involvement until the
camel’s back was broken on December 7th 1941. The Japanese Empire attacked Pearl
Harbor in Hawaii. The motive for the attack was never to occupy any part of the United
States. Although the smartest thing to do would to have been to occupy the Hawaiian
Islands, the Japanese retreated immediately following the attack. The reason for this was
to simply bide time. The Japanese government saw war with the United States as
inevitable. They attacked in order to cripple the U.S naval forces so that they could “run
wild” in the Pacific without the threat of a United States attack. Following the declaration
of war against Japan, Germany soon declared war on the United States on December 11th
1941. Hitler did this because he believed that if he prevented the United States from
fronting a full attack on Japan, the Japanese would be grateful enough to attack the Soviet
Union in the West. Germany was already fighting the Soviet Union in the East this this
would cause the Soviets to fight a two front war. This however did not occur, Germany
declaring war on the United States backfired on Hitler. The United States was now at war
with two completely different enemies. Japan fought a unique war against the United
States, forcing them to battle on small islands before reaching the Japanese mainland.
This tactic of American troops fighting from island to island is known as “island
hopping.” German forces differed from this due to the fact that they were fighting a
frontal war tactic only on the mainland of Europe. The main difference between the
European theatre and the Pacific theatre was the presence of exterminationism. The
Germans were exterminationist’s; setting up death camps in order to mass kill all people
they did not see fit to live. Although Japanese troops did kill many innocent civilians, it
hailed in comparison to the willful and efficient mass killings of the Germans. Not as
important, yet still a difference was the treatment of prisoners of war between Germany
and Japan. In Germany, 95% of prisoners of war were kept alive and safe. While in
Japan, a little more than half of prisoners of war were kept alive and safe. Conditions for
prisoners of war in Japan were brutal, due to the fact that the Japanese were brainwashed
to view Americans as animals.
“The New Deal” which was put into practice in 1933 was a beacon of hope to the
American people during one of the darkest times in American history. The New Deal is
regarded as an economic recovery act more than it is regarded as a reform movement.
Although there were reform movements within the New Deal ranging from business to
agriculture, it was created solely for the purpose of economic recovery. As well as an
economic recovery act, it was a superb public relations stunt. Although the New Deal did
virtually nothing to recover the economy, the American people gave their full support to
the United States Government and to President Roosevelt. As a result of President
Roosevelt’s famous “fireside chats” the American People were convinced that the United
States Government was doing everything in its power to remedy the situation. The term
“New Deal” did not originate from the desk of a Government official. Instead, its origins
lie within the speech Franklin D. Roosevelt gave after accepting the 1932 Democratic
nomination. “I pledge myself to a new deal for the American people.” News outlets from
then on referred to the string of economic recovery acts as “The New Deal.” The New
Deal in and of itself can be described as the multitude of different economic recovery acts
such as the NRA and the AAA put into practice between 1933 and 1938. The method
Franklin D. Roosevelt used for the New Deal was a very unorganized one. The basic idea
was to create as many programs as possible to stimulate the economy. The problem with
this method was that politicians in Washington D.C wanted fix the economy for the long
term. Franklin D. Roosevelt focused on the here and now economy and employed
programs that would dissipate within 6 months to a year. The other problem with this
method was that with so many programs being created and put into practice, it was
difficult to see which ones were truly aiding the economic recovery. This was the main
problem with The New Deal, the fact that the focus was to set on short-term small scope
programs instead of programs for the long-term economy. In the end, The New Deal
resulted in minimal to no recovery in regards to the economy. However, in regards to
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s success as a politician, it was a remarkable triumph. Although
the programs of The New Deal did little, the American people praised Franklin D.
Roosevelt for doing all he could, while keeping them informed on the progress. In fact,
the New Deal itself caused Roosevelt to win landslide victories that resulted in 4
consecutive United States Presidential terms. Roosevelt’s political manipulation was both
a success and a failure. President Roosevelt would purposely appoint individuals of
different political affiliations to roles that were required to work with each other. For
example, he would do things like appoint a Republican as the secretary of commerce and
a Democrat as the secretary of treasury. This way, he was able to manipulate what
happened with government programs by meeting with the individuals and making it seem
like each side had won a dispute. In actuality, Roosevelt would manipulate it so things
would be done his way. This would also prevent blame for a failure being put on the
shoulders of President Roosevelt, for he had also manipulated so that the blame could be
placed in a specific place, on a specific person. Ultimately, The New Deal did little to
recover the economy during the Great Depression. This was due to President Roosevelt
implementing too many short-term programs, not focusing on the long term, and political
manipulation. However, from a political viewpoint, it was a complete success for
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s reputation and political career.