7 Franklin D. Roosevelt 7(From left, seated) Canadian prime minister W. L. Mackenzie King, U.S.
president Franklin D. Roosevelt, and British prime minister Winston
Churchill at an Allied conference in Quebec, 1943. Encyclopædia
Britannica, Inc.
Congress, Roosevelt obtained passage of the Lend-Lease
Act, which enabled the United States to accept noncash
payment for military and other aid to Britain and its allies.
Later that year he authorized the U.S. Navy to provide
protection for lend-lease shipments, and in the fall he
instructed the navy to “shoot on sight” at German subma-
rines. All these actions moved the United States closer to
actual belligerency with Germany.