Who Were the Two Presidents During World War II?
U.S. involvement in World War II followed the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941. Once in the war, the government faced the economic, industrial and military challenges of fighting the war on several battlefronts simultaneously. Lead by a strong duo of presidents, the United States met the task and coordinated with overseas allies to accomplish wartime goals.
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Franklin D. Roosevelt -- March 4, 1933 to April 12, 1945
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When Roosevelt was first sworn into office in early 1933, he made it clear that he had no intention of breaking with the U.S. policy of isolationism, a principle intended to prevent America from being drawn into foreign wars because of international alliances and promises. As Adolf Hitler slowly made his designs for European domination clear, Roosevelt took measures to help Britain's cause through measures such as Lend-Lease, which provided American military goods to England. While those who subscribed to an isolationist policy protested Roosevelt's actions, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 immediately quelled further opposition to U.S. involvement.
Execution of the War
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Because prewar actions helped the Allies in their fight against Germany and its allies, Roosevelt commanded the respect of his counterparts in Britain and Russia, Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Chairman Joseph Stalin. By coordinating with these leaders, Roosevelt settled on a strategy for the American war effort to not only battle the Germans in Europe and the Japanese in the Pacific, but also to ship millions of tons of supplies to both the British and the Russians. By successfully managing the flow of troops and supplies to both theaters of war, Roosevelt oversaw the steady turn of the war in America's favor until the time of his death in early 1945.
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Harry Truman
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In July 1944, the Democratic National Convention took place in Chicago to decide on the party's next nominee for the vice presidency. Most people recognized that Roosevelt would again be elected president, but his failing health made it likely that the next vice president would take over his office. Many Democratic leaders disliked Henry Wallace, the incumbent vice president, and thus attempted to dissuade Roosevelt from giving him his support. Though they succeeded in turning Roosevelt away from Wallace, the only replacement candidate that they could settle on was Truman. After failing to receive a majority of the votes in the first round, Truman secured the vice presidential nomination over Wallace on July 21, 1944.
Atomic Legacy
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When Roosevelt died April 12, 1945, Truman began his presidency. Though he had his own style of conducting the war effort, it did not significantly differ from Roosevelt's plan. Primarily, Truman's WWII legacy focuses on his decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan near the end of the war. Proponents of the decision argue that it saved lives by circumventing an otherwise costly invasion of Japan, while others note that the same intimidating effect of the bombs could have been achieved with offshore detonations and thus avoid the incredible destructive force which these bombs had. Notably, Truman did not attend either the surrender of Germany in May 1945 nor the surrender of Japan in September because of the security risks involved.
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References
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