Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) had made a man for himself in United States of America in the early 20 ^th century. Prior to his rise as a progressive president, he was born from an aristocratic family in New York. He was a relative of Theodore Roosevelt, 26 ^th President of the United States. Despite his mediocre grades in Ivy-League Universities, he joined the political fray. He began in the Senate, and later served as an Assistant Secretary of the United States Navy during Woodrow Wilson’s tenure as President. Later in life, he would be struck the life changing, crippling blow of polio. Initially depressed, he managed to turn his curse into something to sympathize with the people. It was through his time in the early 1920’s that he managed to converse with everyday people in America.

Have Your Voice Heard: Become an Odyssey Creator

It was through this experience of being at the lowest point a man could go, he pulled himself out of his own abyss. FDR returned to the political scene when he ran, and won the position of New York governor in the late 1920’s. With his election to the role of Governor, FDR then had to wrestle with a new beast, the Great Depression. During his time, he began to implement several forms of what would later be collectively known as The New Deal. In 1932, FDR had managed to win the Presidency by defeating the prior-President, Herbert Hoover.

The American people would have initially believed that FDR would not be able to help them through the Depression. That would have been the case, if he wasn’t a man who was accustomed to being plagued by such a life-changing disease. Through his presidency, FDR had managed to pass a series of laws that dwarfed prior Presidents, such as Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt. FDR said that this “New Deal” would attempt to make the lives of the American people better. In spite of the loss of jobs, centers of industry, food and above all, hope.

In regards to his ultimate plan of the New Deal, FDR stated that, “Some may call this Socialism, or Communism.” What he meant was, in lieu of his new laws that would be in place to aid in the United States outliving the Depression, changes had to be made. Of these changes, FDR had enacted a command economy on the Captains of American Industry. Thus curtailing the monopolies that could be established in the United States. Along with this, FDR had managed to enact a series of “alphabet organizations” that would handle various tasks, such as the Works Progress Administration (WPA), or the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).

Though FDR would establish more laws than any other President since that time, they would all change later in his presidency. FDR had payed attention to the events occurring in Europe and the Pacific, and the growing militarization of Germany, Italy and the Japanese. He had served with Wilson during the First World War, and like the rest of America he was hesitant to get the American people involved. However, FDR understood the threat that Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini and the Japanese Empire posed to the United States.

Though he would attempt a series of discreet ways of maintain neutrality, his ultimate goal was to prepare America for a Second World War. FDR would do this by using his gift of the gab and a Democrat majority in Congress. It was through the C.C.C. that he was able to not only establish new bases, barracks, and other military installations. In addition, he had managed to covertly train millions of men in the ways of military discipline. He would also enact trading agreements between the Allied nations, such as Cash and Carry, and Lend Lease.

Through this and other factors, FDR was itching the American people closer to being involved in the Second World War. Though he had promised the American people in the later months of 1941 that he would not send American boys to war, he would have to break that promise. On December 7 ^th, 1941 the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. When addressing the bombing the next day, FDR displayed his anger to the Japanese sneak attack. In part to his address on December 8 ^th, 1941, the American declaration of war would be forever remembered as a “day that will live in infamy.”

So it would be known that the United States of America would be involved in the Second World War. With the American entry into the war, the country had changed with FDR changing as well. When he entered the presidency the nation was plagued by an illness, so in response he adopted the role of Dr. New Deal. When the war broke out, the doctor had to retire his tools and hat, in its place stood Dr. Win-the-War. Many of the laws, rules and so forth that FDR had established would be changed in some form of way.

FDR made a miracle occur. By tradition, it is strenuous to convert an economy to war. It is even more of a battle to convert a democratic government to a wartime economy. Unlike the Fascist and Communist governments involved in the war, the United States possesses a market economy. By possessing this form of economy, the government doesn’t play a role in what is produced, how much, etc. During World War II, that changed with FDR enacting several implementations that fit his style of government. One of these was the Office of War Administration with James Byrnes in charge of this department. This one played a role in relocating millions of jobless workers into some form of work. This included agriculture, factories, and military, just about anything that had an employment shortage.

In contrast to his New Deal agendas for economics, FDR allowed many Captains of Industry to disregard the long-standing Sherman-Anti Trust Laws. He believed that the nation would be able to produce on a massive scale if the industrial centers were allowed to flourish. Many of the largest companies would actually send their top employees as a form of ambassador to FDR, to aid in the conversion of the economy. FDR would go so far as to provide incentives to the centers of industry. The creation of the Office of War Mobilization (O.W.M.) was to pay various American industry to produce the varying military supplies. Such as the allocations towards redesigning several factories owned by General Motors, Ford, etc. so that they would be able to produce machinery, vehicles and supplies for the war effort.

Along with this, FDR would also allow the labor unions that he had previously attempted to disband to increase. He believed that it would allow the workers to get higher pay, that way stimulating the economy. With the newfound wealth, savings accounts, checking accounts and other forms of banking rose tremendously. With FDR’s previous hand in providing a means of educating the American people in the ways of filing taxes, the people would all play their roles in the war effort.

In conjunction with this idea of allowing workers to gain higher wages, FDR would adhere to Keynesian economics. This method called for deficit spending for whatever was necessary, while lowering taxes on the American people. In the long run, it is estimated that about $3.4 trillion dollars in 1940’s dollars were spent on the economy’s jumpstart. It should be noted that prior to this, Keynes had spoken with FDR on the subject of his theory during the Depression era. FDR initially disregarded it, as well as many politicians, for the idea of deficit spending was something skeptical.

When the dust clouds settled with the conclusion of the war, it is estimated that about $175 billion dollars were spent towards military expansion. All of it was in an effort to allow the cooperation of the United States government and the Big Business to create a Military-Industrial Complex. This entity would allow the country to better mobilize for warfare. In addition, the duo of Big Government and Big Business aided in the creation of branch “Bigs.” These include weapons development from universities in the United States through Big Science. Along with massive crop production and rationing for the war effort, all through Big Ag. Lastly, there was Big Labor, which would allow every single able body individual a job in the United States.

Due to FDR’s role in the mobilization of the people, economy and other entities, he had effectively transitioned America into a war economy. He had Big Science aiding in the development of new weapons, and Captains of Industry like Henry J. Kaiser and Henry Ford producing military equipment in no time. Not to mention, due to his efforts in the Big Ag. Department, there was a food surplus. In the end, the total production of the United States at the end of the war are as follows: 5,777 merchant ships, 299,293 planes, 634,569 jeeps, 88,410 tanks, 2,383,311 trucks, 6.5 million rifles, 4 billion rounds of ammo, and two Atomic Bombs (Little Boy & Fat Man). It should be noted, that by the year 1943, the United States had not only out-produced the other Allied members, but the Axis Powers as well.

As far as FDR’s social policies, they too differed from his New Deal days. FDR would instill a censorship of the media, the likes of which included not displaying the events of Pearl Harbor. He believed that the photographs of the Pearl Harbor attack, and of the photos of the fallen soldiers in both theaters of war. Along with this, FDR established a law that all post that was sent from the soldiers to their loved ones back home be edited. FDR understood that espionage was a part of warfare, in editing the troops’ letters, he would protect the soldiers’ locations, objectives and other military interests.

In conjunction with FDR’s mobilization of the economy, many families migrated from their homes to find employment. Perhaps no migration would be as noted as the mass exodus from the South. It is estimated that about 2 million people had relocated to the North in World War I, in World War Two there were 4 million. In this migration came a culture shock to the African-Americans who had originated from the Confederate South. In the Northern States there was a lack of De Jure racism and more of the De Facto racism. The difference was, there were no Jim Crow laws in the Northern States that the African-Americans had suffered through since the end of the Civil War.

Along with this was the African Americans eagerness to serve in the United States military. It is estimated that about 60% of the African-American who were eligible for military service, enlisted like wildfire. Their numbers dwarfed the Caucasian enlistments, and every other ethnic group. By joining the military, their lives had changed as they were taught honor and discipline. This, tied in with the military’s approach of breaking down an individual and reshaping them into a more proud individual was another factor. This was something that no African-American was familiar with in the Confederate South, and so they began to take pride in that they had the training. Many African-American soldiers however, began to question the idea of the war as a whole. From their perspective, the war was related to anti-sematic views. Once they saw the events of the Holocaust, fears began to emerge from the soldiers. They began to wonder if the United States would do to the African-Americans, what the Nazi’s had done to the Jews.

The soldiers decided while the war on racism may have been abroad, it existed back home, and they need to fight it. When some of the African-American soldiers returned, they began to lead their people to a Civil Rights movement. So began the sit-ins that would take place in restaurants, schools and other key areas where segregation existed. It was during this time that the memberships for the National Association of the Advancement Colored People (NAACP) began to triple in numbers. Due to many labor unions excluding African-Americans, and the military being segregated on account of Secretary of War Henry Stimson’s beliefs, many Civil Rights leaders proposed a plan. The idea was that A. Philip Randolph and other notable Civil Rights leaders would enact a March on Washington to protest these injustices.

In response, FDR had to make a choice, to either be a Civil Rights President or a War President, he would choose the latter of the two. However, he did meet with Randolph and the other members to come to an agreement. In the end, Executive Order 8802 was enacted and so ended official racial discrimination in government jobs. This would also create a special committee designed to investigate instances of discrimination, the Fair Employment Practice Committee. While FDR did want to put an end to discrimination as a whole, he understood that the war had to take precedence. When the war was over, and America stood victorious was when he would attempt to end the centuries old plague.

When looking at FDR’s involvement as Commander-In-Chief of the United States Armed Forces during WWII, it’s important to note the changes in military staff. In the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, a majority of the top brass were replaced with new generals and admirals. It should be noted, that after the events of Pearl Harbor, the Philippines were invaded by the Japanese forces. Instead of remaining in a fortified area the General in command ordered his men to meet the Japanese on the beaches. This resulted in a massive loss of men, and the defeat in the Philippines with the Bataan Death March to follow suit. The man who gave these orders, was General Douglas MacArthur.

Despite the utter failure to hold the fortress of Corregidor and hold some form of garrison in the Philippines, MacArthur flees to Australia. In doing so he has left behind not only the people of the Philippines, but his men to the savagery of the Japanese invasion force. Instead of relieving MacArthur of command, FDR made MacArthur a hero. This was all in part due to the losses in the African Campaign where the soldiers were fleeing the combat zone. In this instance America needed a hero, and despite his questionable strategies, and obvious failures, MacArthur was chosen to be that hero out of necessity. MacArthur would later be promoted to General of the United States Army and serve alongside Admiral Chester Nimitz in a joint Army-Navy operation that involved pushing the Japanese forces back to their home islands.

FDR held a very pragmatic sense of what was required to win a Second World War. He was in command of a nation that was skeptical of another World War. He accomplished this, despite all of the obstacles he faced in the economic, political, military and even social aspects of America. Through his work, FDR had managed to convert a democratic nation to a mobilized war economy. Along with making deals with former enemies that he had sought to control in during the Depression era. Through his gift of the gab, FDR had managed to disregard Anti-Sherman Trust laws, and allow the American economy to explode with an unmatched capacity. Not only that, he had managed to prepare the American people for war, before it was ever declared. FDR had managed to create branches through his partnership with Big Business to create entities that would aid in the war effort. FDR established organizations that would protect the lives of the American military, all through editing the letters sent home. He would turn one of the most controversial generals in American history, into a national hero, all out of necessity. In short, FDR had managed to turn the most damaged nation at the time, into something that would not only stand toe-toe with the Axis, but tower over.