246 ChaPter^5
Europe and in 1939 began increasing arms sales to Britain and France on the
cash and carry basis.
The fall of France and battle against Britain subsequently accelerated
FDR’s involvement in European affairs. In September 1940, the U.S. resumed
a military draft but the president, running for re-election, promised he would
stay out of the war [much like Wilson had in 1916]. In a message to the
mothers of America he said “your boys are not going to be sent into any for-
eign wars.” His Republican opponent, Wendell Willkie was furious, saying
“that hypocritical son of a bitch! This is going to beat me!” Roosevelt did
win the election easily. Meanwhile he authorized naval patrols in the Atlantic
and said he was willing to enter hostilities. With a racist joke, he explained
“if we fire and sink an Italian or German [ship]... we will say it the way the
Japs do, ‘so sorry. Never happen again.’ Tomorrow we sink two.” By the sum-
mer of 1940, FDR and British Prime Minister Churchill were coordinating
operations against Germany in the Atlantic Ocean in the so-called Undeclared
War. Unknown to most of the world, the American navy was engaging in
hostilities against Germany long before Pearl Harbor. In July 1941, FDR gave
orders to the navy approving military operations: “...the presence of any
German submarine or raider should be dealt with by action looking to the
elimination of such ‘threat of attack’ on the lines of communication, or close
to it.”
Not long after, in October, German submarines torpedoed two American
ships, the Kearny and the Reuben James, killing 11 Americans in the first
instance and 115 in the second. Though war had not been authorized, pro-
grams like cash and carry and Lend-Lease, along with the Undeclared War,
meant the U.S. was in reality in hostilities against Germany. At that point, the
U.S. would be making plans for warfare. The British and Russians allied after
the German invasion in the East in June 1941, and the U.S. joined, creating
the Grand Alliance, after December 7th. Though Allies with a common goal of
stopping fascism, the 3 countries had different overall goals. As much as
Germany was the main enemy, its aggression in Europe a threat to the heart
of American commerce, FDR also used the war as a way to pursue the Open
Door and actually break apart Britain’s Empire, which was a closed econom-
ic system preventing the U.S. from access to many of its markets. In September
1940, Roosevelt began to chip away at Britain’s imperial system with the
Destroyers for Bases deal. As the battle over the skies of London raged, the U.S.