Franklin Delano Roosevelt was determined to protect the national security of the United States. At first, Roosevelt felt that it was in the best interest of the United States to avoid involvement in the war. However, he knew "sooner or later, the threat to the European balance of power would have forced the United States to intervene in order to stop Germany's drive for world domination" (Kissinger 369-370). But this was not Roosevelt's main problem; Roosevelt had to prove to the American people that unlike World War I, US involvement was necessary. He had to "[transform] the nation's concept of national interest and [lead] 'a staunchly isolationist people' into yet another global war" (handout).

Initially, Franklin Delano Roosevelt's main goal was to protect US National Security by not intervening in the war. Roosevelt and the rest of United States government did not want to make the same mistakes of WWI. Thus, all of the situations that caused the United States to enter WWI were taken into consideration when the Neutrality Acts were passed. Prior to the outbreak of the war Franklin Roosevelt signed the Neutrality Acts, which "prohibited loans and any other financial as

On the other hand, Franklin Roosevelt was always pro-democracy and had a history of rejecting these aggressive countries (mostly the dictatorships). As the war developed and the desperation of the Allies increased, Roosevelt realized the need to support the allies (the non-aggressive democracies that he was ideally tied to) or face a group of unreceptive countries in the postwar world. However, his American people had set up a barrier of isolationism between the US and any foreign involvement. Roosevelt understood their view but he said, "[it would take time to] make people realize that war will be a greater danger to us if we close all doors and windows then if we go out in the street and use our influence to curb the riot" (Kissinger 381).

However, this shift from neutrality to a gradual helping of the allies did not stop there. On November 4, 1939 Roosevelt added the Fourth Neutrality Act, which "permitted belligerents to purchase arms and ammunition from the United States, provided they paid in cash and transported their purchases in their own or neutral ships" (Kissinger 385). However, as France fell into the hands of Hitler, Roosevelt knew that the British could not defeat Hitler alone. As a result, Franklin Delano Roosevelt tried to rid the Fourth Neutrality Act of the cash requirement and instead suggested that the American people accept the Lend-Lease Act, which "allowed the President discretionary authority to lend, lease, sell, or barter under any terms he deemed proper any defense article to 'the government of any country whose defense the President deems vital to the defense of the Untied States'" (Kissinger 388). This clear favoritism led to the isolation of the aggressors and the view tha

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Approximate Word count = 1157
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)