Notes: Isolationist versus Interventionists (pg.769)
During 1934, Congress and the American public accepted economic interventions with various Latin American countries but the public was increasingly resistant to diplomatic initiatives that might result in political entanglements. In part, the growing support for political isolationism reflected disillusionment with American participation in World War I. As a result, the Neutrality Act of 1935 was passed and imposed an embargo on arms trading with countries at war.
Retreat from isolationism
After a bitter battle in Congress in 1939, Roosevelt won a change in the neutrality laws to allow the Allies to buy arms on a cash-and-carry basis. Interventionists, led by the journalist William Allen White and his Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies, became increasingly vocal. Despite the efforts of the America