Franklin Roosevelt's Impact On America

The years prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor were relatively difficult years for the American society due to the Great Depression which hit America in the 1930s (Jones et al. 533). Many Americans lost their jobs and wages were devastatingly low which caused many American families to live on the streets (Marcus, Giggie and Burner 186). However, the election of Franklin Roosevelt during the Great Depression brought about some desirable changes as a result of the implementation of his New Deal legislation which helped stabilize the economy eventually (Jones et al. 452). Unfortunately, the New Deal did not bring America out of the depression completely as America was still facing problems with the economy even until the start of World War II and the attack on Pearl Harbor.
In the 1930s, the American government disallowed the sales of weapons to outside nations who were at war by implementing the Neutrality Acts of 1935, 1936 and 1937 (558). However, the President of the United States at that time, Franklin Roosevelt, supported the idea that America should assist nations to resist the Axis forces which consisted of Germany, Italy and Japan (558). As such, Roosevelt did succeed in persuading Congress to approve the Lend-Lease Agreement which allowed America to lend weaponry to the Allied forces (558). To ensure that America was not directly involved in the war, America placed a “strong military presence in the Pacific” to deter any forces from attacking American soil, which, however, turned out to be unsuccessful