Roosevelt, Manipulator-In-Chief

[Applause] in the face of great peril never before incumbent is destructive and to perpetuate the integrity of democracy we must us period of America and the faith of America we do not retreat we are much content as Americans we go forward in the service of our country by the will the Roosevelt a third German office says Europe looked into the abyss [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Joseph else returned to the White House for third term broke a sacred tradition in American politics Roosevelt believed the international crisis justified his continuing in power but the love of the game was also a challenge to him he would do what no other president had done with hindsight Roosevelt can be portrayed as a president given to bold actions who delighted in the exercise of power especially in foreign affairs but he was also cautious man who was deeply sensitive to the ebb and flow of public opinion it was impossible to tell whether his caution and regard for public opinion were evidence of his commitment to the democratic process or more a matter of political calculation at a time in the future of the free world hung in the balance Roosevelt resorted to the shifting tactics and manipulation of the American system which were his characteristic one of those who enjoyed Roosevelt's confidence was Turner Catledge of the New York Times well FDR's challenge the force of war was concerned then was to convince his country to solidify his country had to take a solid country into the war an undivided country in the war at that time it was still divided and he's seen the big extra cautious that was his method of operating it's a person first place he was a manipulator he's trying to manipulate the country he was nudging the country in the war and if people want him to shove it in the war or to lead it into war and that he was not doing Britain stood alone against the Axis powers where morale was good but her resources were fast running out a deadly submarine war in the Atlantic threatened the Lifeline on which she depended for food and warm until Churchill urged Americans to open their eyes to the danger the world was in give us the tools he said and we will finish the job choosing his words carefully Roosevelt took up the challenge if Great Britain goes down the Axis powers will control the continents of Europe and Asia and Africa and Australasia and the high seas and they will be in a position to bring enormous military and naval resources against this hemisphere it is no exaggeration to say that all of us in the Americas would be living at the point of a guns we know now that a nation that can have peace with the Nazis only at the price of total surrender the people of Europe who are defending themselves do not ask us to do their fighting they ask us for the implements of war the planes the tanks the guns trade us which will enable them to fight for their liberty and our security there is no demand for sending an American Expeditionary Force outside our own border there is no intention by any member of your government to send such a force we must be the great arsenal of democracy for us this is an emergency as serious as war itself there will be no bottlenecks in our determination to aid Great Britain no dictator no combination of dictators will weaken that determination by French I believe that the Axis powers are not going to win this war public demonstrations against Roosevelt's war policy disturbed him some no doubt were communist-inspired as Germany had not yet attacked Russia but they seemed to indicate that America was still a divided nation Woodrow Wilson's fate after bringing America into World War one continued to haunt him and his opponents played on public memories of American losses in that war losses which now seen an unnecessary sacrifice but Roosevelt's reelection in 1940 enabled him to move more openly to aid Britain he found less need to resort to subterfuge and there was greater urgency in the deteriorating situation he submitted a daring proposal the lend-lease bill intended to increase the flow of material to Britain it was he argue the means whereby America could avoid fighting herself that Britain to the job as Churchill it said [Music] one opponent of the bill was Joseph Kennedy a former ambassador in London whose hostile attitude towards Britain was well known the leaf Linville seeks to confer upon the president's authority unheard of in our history I am unable to agree with the proponents of this bill that it has yet been shown that we face such immediate danger as to justify the surrender of the authority and responsibility of the Congress after there has been a debate and a bill whatever it may be becomes part of our law I think the duty of every American citizen is plain all of us must rally behind the president so that he may carry on with a nation which has debated in the Democratic manner had acted in the Democratic manner and is united in the cause of preserving our own democracy the Linley said I regard as an almost a declaration I regarded perhaps more so than yourself seem to regarded itself but once Congress passed a Linley's that we were in the war his passage was made easier by the fact that the country was already geared up economically in terms of employment in terms of materials already geared up to producing that material what was he gonna do with it so he had a bit in a lobbying if he needed it see that they literally he had industrial Lobby he had an emotional lobbies people who want to aid the British they had his own determination to nudge the country in the war and then that was a big show the British had established in Washington purchasing Commission they were buying material and contracts were being made to supply the material on a cash-and-carry basis they pay the cash and they had to haul it away it came to the point where the had no cash they not only had liquidated assets in the United States but also on a substantial part of Latin America specially in Argentina and they were absolutely exhausted it couldn't go any further and how they're gonna keep supplying the British without the cash was a question somebody came up I don't think it was he I'm sure it was not came up with an idea of lend-lease of Lin them material just charge it to him on the books and if we got in the war we get it back if we didn't get into war they could finally pay for and that was gonna include everybody not only the British but also the Russians Russians got an enormous amount of little eise lend-lease bill passed Congress by wide margins in March 1941 that would not have to pay for the war equipment bar from America until after the war which meant that the economic resources of America were committed to defeating the Axis powers the bill also stimulated war production for America's own use should the need arise with such convincing backing from the people Roosevelt was able to move further in manipulating the American public towards active participation in the conflict after the Middle East was passed they started manufacturing material then they had to deliver it the ability to carry it away was decreasing greatly because of the u-boot activities in Atlantic so how to get it this destination became quite a problem quite a question manipulated around to get an excuse for delivering it that would be in terms of the defense of the United States then they set up a convoy system well once they instituted the convoys system which Congress did protect the goods on their way to the destination that was another step into the war we were already knee-deep in the world at that time especially so Roosevelt gave up orders to shoot to kill if necessary to carry on that's true and that he did also quite post that he was looking for a substantial is it Roosevelt's use of executive power to negotiate agreements with Denmark and Iceland was covered he argued by the Monroe Doctrine no one quarreled with that Churchill welcomed the presence of American forces in Iceland as part of the strategic defense of the West that made more actual the friendship which he and Roosevelt had forged on a personal basis at a famous meeting in mid-atlantic Roosevelt like Churchill enjoyed being at sea and big ships earlier in their careers both men had served their navies a charter for the freedom of the world had been the result of that meeting [Music] Church we'll never fully understood America's political system but he left Roosevelt impressed with the president's determination to work towards their common objective and some of church's fighting spirit rubbed off onto America's commander-in-chief there on your first food Hill MIT des the Bismarck and on the second to MIT the illustrious president of the United States who is one of the men who chases will take the greatest part in shaping the immediate future of our civilization the Axis powers can never achieve their objective of world domination unless they first obtain control of the Seas that is their supreme purpose today and to achieve it they must capture Great Britain we shall give every possible assistance to Britain and war with Britain are resisting it or its equivalent with force of arms patrols are helping now to ensure delivery of the needed supplies to Britain all additional measures necessary to deliver the goods will be taken therefore with profound consciousness of my responsibilities to my countrymen and to my countries I have tonight issued a proclamation that an unlimited national emergency exists and requires the strengthening of our defence to the extreme limit of our national power and authority the nation will expect all individuals and all groups to play their full part without stint without selfishness and without doubt that our democracy will triumphantly survive but all of America was soon to rise in single-minded rash behind her commander-in-chief December 7th 1941 without any declaration of war or other warning Japan attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii [Music] 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 I asked that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire was a great shock to the country and a particular depressive shocked mr. Rosa because he adored the Navy and his neighborhood to be caught back sitting ducks moats tied up side-by-side pearl how to summon he found very very hard to digest but the instant was a triumph for him it said of his constitutional thought at the time of the attack Roosevelt was in the middle of negotiations with Japan aimed at avoiding war in the Pacific four days later on December 11th 1941 Germany and Italy declared war on the United States there was no question now of Roosevelt having to lead a divided country into a European conflict a world war was thrust on the American people by all of democracy's folds and the full power of the strongest nation in the world was immediately placed at the disposal of its commander-in-chief [Music] he was now a war chief he really enjoyed his role as commandant she for the Hartmann Navy but he did not met him in the conduct of the war he left two offices when we persons selected and whom he had a great deal of faith although he went to all of the meetings and he liked to sit then read the maps and some of it he might make a suggestion that I'm sure he told you pay attention to what he's saying at least it indicate he was not going to insist on these things and they knew he wouldn't American Britain were now allies personal meetings between the two warlords Roosevelt and Churchill laid the basis for joint planning by their Chiefs of Staff Russia was now also America's ally the presence of Stalin at Tehran in 1943 made it a meeting of the big three Roosevelt loved these summit conferences but Stalin and Churchill knew that in Europe at least there were political objectives to be fought for in addition to military victory rules have felt exercised undisputed authority as commander-in-chief as American forces fought there long and hard way back across the Pacific to the Philippines Congress was happy to leave America's military and diplomatic policies in the hands of the President [Music] some Americans felt that the war against Japan should have priority over the war in Europe but there was no serious opposition to Roosevelt's handling of the big decisions of the Alliance he and Churchill had agreed at the outset that Germany had to be defeated first Japan would not last long on her own [Music] in 1944 Roosevelt won power for a fourth term the return to active political warfare stimulated him but his health was weakening when he reported to Congress on his return from the altar conference he was a dying man and therefore in the history of the world it will soon be presented to the Senate and the American people a great decision but it will determine the fate of the United States and I think therefore the fate of the world for generations to come there can be no middle ground here we shall have to take responsibility for world collaboration or we shall have to bear the responsibility for another world conflict and I am confident that the Congress the American people will accept the results of this conference as the beginnings our permanent structure of peace upon which we can begin to build under God that better world in which our children and grandchildren yours and mine the children and grandchildren of the whole world mud lived and can live Roosevelt died on April 12 1945 the nation was stunned he had been their president for 12 and a quarter years [Music] under the protection of the federal government he brought in a human being that was one of the great things he did he had a great feeling for the human being we got it I don't know he did not come up the hard way he could be passion izing I thought a lot of times he was having a line of course his own beginnings but you've got to take a man a Cipolla found his record on his record he was a champion in the field well what helped I think was the greatest user of power the greatest present - in our modern time he made a game of acquiring power he made a skillful job I did a scooper job of using it usually I think for parent noble purposes although his methods were not always as well [Music]