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Red Dave
09-11-2003 08:50:00
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Re: Re: Re: Thanks Canada! in reply to Rod F., 09-10-2003 14:23:10
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If it had been up to FDR alone we (The U.S.) would have been in the fight for Europe from 1939 on, but FDR could not convince enough members of congress of the need to fight along with the U.K. against Germany. Nor could he muster enough support from the general population to force congress to act. Some people, such as Joseph Kennedy, Ambassador to Great Britain and father of JFK, openly lobbied FDR to support Germany because he thought the British could not hold out. Congress, rightfully, was reluctant to become involved in the affairs of other countries, but they were too short-sighted to realize that we were already involved anyway, want it or not. FDR was able (just barely) to get Lend-Lease through to provide badly needed material and supplies to Great Britain and her allies. The U.S. Navy was de-facto involved in escorting/protecting convoys to England long before December 7, 1941, but not officially.
Pearl Harbor was the jolt to the conciousness that galvanized the public's resolve to finally do the right thing and go to the aid of Great Britain and her allies. Winston Churchill, in what was the one of the finest examples of great leadership in history, kept the british people steadfast against the Nazi's, and held on until the U.S. provided enough support to turn the tide against Germany.
In doing so, Churchill saved the free world.
In his own words, Churchill later wrote that on the evening of the attack on Pearl Harbor, he went to bed and "slept the sleep of the saved"
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