announcer: you are watching american history tvannouncer:, all weekend, every weekend on c-span3. to join the conversation, like us on facebook at c-spanhistory. announcer: on lectures and history, western university in ontario shauna devine and level constants talk about president franklin donna roosevelt. they described his domestic policy, such as the new deal, and other social welfare programs. professor thompson talks about the global politics leading up to world war ii and his relationship with the british prime minister winston churchill. both professors talk about how his critics felt he was expanding executive powers to four. this class is about an hour, 15 minutes. >> welcome to today's lecture on franklin roosevelt. this is history 2131 b. the introduction to american presidency. this is a second level course.

in this class, we trace the development and evolution of the office of the presidency and we look into particular the presidents that have had the most impact on the shaping of the office. not all presidents get their own lecture, lincoln of course did, and the second one that has his own lecture is of course, franklin roosevelt who we will look at today. as i said earlier, i will be speaking on franklin roosevelt and his domestic presidency and challenges, initiatives, successes, and failures. i will turn it over to my dearest friend, neville thompson, who histhompson, who his guest lecturing in the class today and we are very honored to have him sharing his research with us so thank you very much for being here and we will turn over to you shortly. we will look today at the histories and election of franklin roosevelt. we begin looking at his early life, political career, and some

of the challenges that he was forced to confront as president. this is our theme, as always, it will be posted online so keep this in mind as you are doing your reading. we move into franklin roosevelt, and who was he? he was born january 13 1882. he was born in a country estate and raised in affluent surroundings. he was paradoxically absolutely loved by the common people. he graduated from harvard, attended columbia law school, and, before graduating from loss will, he took the bar exam and passed. that was not uncommon in those days. he married his distant cousin, eleanor roosevelt, who was one of his great heroes. theodore roosevelt's needs. that was in march of 1905.

he was very influenced and impacted by his presidency of roosevelt and he admired him very much. he won the state senate seat for dutchess county and, interestingly, no democrat had held that seat for over a quarter of a century. he worked on, and we look at this lens into his early political views and we see, during his first tenure as state senator, he worked on passing farm and labor bills and to develop social welfare programs. as i said, he married eleanor roosevelt in march of 1905. this became a very important, not only personal relationship, but i would also say, elliptical partnership. she was an important first lady. she transformed the expectation

of what a first lady might contribute to the office, and to the white house. she was an active participant in politics, gave press conferences, wrote a newspaper column, and later, served in the u.n. she became known as an advocate and a leader of women and civil rights. they had five children together, and it was by all accounts, and happy marriage. that was until one day, eleanor roosevelt discovered, by accident, a package of love letters that her husband was having an affair with her secretary lucy mercer. she was promptly fired. eleanor offered franklin a divorce, and he considered it, but the politician that he was, and with considerable pressure from his mother, he realized

that divorce was not in his best interest. though he promised to stop seeing her, the affair lasted four years. the evidence suggested that it became more infrequent. by all accounts, a very happy marriage early on, and i think they forged an important political partnership moving later. she was always active. you can see here, eleanor roosevelt giving a fireside chat. she was suggesting new possibilities to what a woman might be able to contribute not only to the administration, but to -- in answering the larger social issues of the day. franklin roosevelt began his early career, after he passed the bar exam, he went to work for a wall street law firm. he wasn't very engaged with the matter at hand, and he soon set his sights on political office. after he was elected state

senator, some of his early views about the role of government and its relationship and responsibl ity to the people began to emerge. he was on the heels of a progressive era, the greed the effect that competition had on the people, and he advocated for cooperation. he started to suggest, in this position, that the role of government was to protect the general welfare. he won reelection of his seat in 1912, but, instead, following in the footsteps of who he admired greatly, he accepted the post of assistant secretary of the navy in woodrow wilson's administration. with the africa world war i, he wanted to take a more active role for some kind of commission, but, instead, he worked for preparedness and

naval expansion and work in the civilian sphere. he led civilian missions to inspect naval stations, primarily in the european theater of war. in 1920, he first came to prominence -- or first became known in the national theater when he accepted the nomination for vice president as james cox's running mate. some historians suggest that it was a devastating loss for roosevelt, but this was an important time in his political development as it served to bring him national recognition. many people are aware that roosevelt suffered a severe bout

of polio at age 39. polio mellitus, also known as infantile paralysis, caused by the polio virus, causes muscle weakness and paralysis. it is spread by direct contact or by a agent best buy a contaminated food -- or by a contaminated food. the cure was not invented until the later 1950's and 60's. far earlier -- later than would have benefited roosevelt. roosevelt contracted the virus, and this was one of the rare photographs that we actually have a roosevelt in a wheelchair. he always relied on crunches and heavy still braces. he pours a relationship with the media, that they would not photograph him and any sort of state that made them look global

-- made them look vulnerable. for roosevelt, he was hiding this illness and navigating the disease, it proved as much a psychological difficulty as a physical one. he spent years and years developing techniques to diverge people's attention for his inability to walk or stand unsupported. one of the funny quotes that roosevelt had, he loved to speak to the press and he would always say as the culmination of his press conference, ok, i have to run now. he would take off. he would never sort of except the fact that he could never get up and walk. he would never sort of except the fact that he could never get up and walk. while accounts, this would be a debilitating illness for roosevelt, and one that was not part of consciousness. he did such a good job hiding it. you can see images here. we just never get a sense that he was reliant on any sort of device to move. from here, he moved forward and

his mother worried that this debilitating illness was going to detract from his development in american politics. it did not. he persevered. he was able to continue on in his shaping as a politician and political figure. in 1928, he gained prominence in the democratic party as a two-term governor of new york. again, we see roosevelt in the. maturing as a politician. his views on social reform crystallized. he was charismatic, energetic, and had a wonderful ability early on of being able to connect with the people. in his run as governor, he ran for protective labor legislation, projective this progressive government, and other things. in 1931, as the depression continue to worsen, he created the temporary emergency relief

administration which provided food and clothing and housing, and even jobs if possible. he advocated support for social issues over individual concern, and as the depression worsened, he called for government intervention in the economy at a time when that was largely unthinkable. that was to provide relief and economic recovery. fdr, by 1932, had not only gained national prominence, he had caught the attention of the democratic party through his two terms as governor, and by 1932, he was a leading contender by democratic presidential nomination. some suggested it was an unprecedented move, he traveled to the democratic convention in chicago to accept the nomination and, some historians suggested

it was to prove that his physical limitations would never get in the way of his efficacy and ability to lead the country. he promised there, ask the convention, "a new deal for the american people, one that would guarantee work and one that would guarantee security." 1932 elections was the beginning, the beginning of a new political era. fdr was elected president for the majority of the national vote, and, it was as much a vote for roosevelt as it was against hoover. as you can see, it was a mandate. the electoral college was overwhelmingly in favor of roosevelt. he carried 42 states. the congress, democrats had a mandate. they outnumbered republicans

60 to 35 in the senate. it was a firm desire of the american people to use government, as an agency of human welfare. roosevelt took the oath of office march 4, 1933. in 32 states, on that today, in 32 states, every bank had been closed by a state government hiatus. on the moment of the inauguration, the stock exchange closed his door, and the editor of nations business noted "beer or during on panic, loss of everything, our fellow man, our institutions, private and government, worst of all, no big and ourselves or the future." between 12 million and 15 million americans, about 25% of

the workforce were unemployed. millions of people had lost their life savings and many had lost their homes and lived in uncertain conditions. many were even forced to stand in long lines for free super and bread and, 11,000 americans -- a blood of america's banks have failed. panic and fear roosevelt -- 's after hoover inability's to effectively manage the crisis or opera solution to the people, fdr and his approach was welcomed. roosevelt responded to the crisis in his mandate with confidence and revolution. he suggested the republican party's talk down -- top-down policies would not allow for economic recovery. the country needed new initiative that would "put their

faith once more in the forgotten man of the economic pyramid." this was a war. he demanded that the nation mobilized to meet it. we see him emerging in washington to one of the largest inauguration crowds ever seen in history. and, to an atmosphere of fear of also hope that and also hope. he stood on the chilly platform, as you can see, with no hat and no overcoat, and recognized that the country was in turmoil, but promised, with a certain resoluteness, that he would be able to wage the war and handle the domestic crisis.

>> this is a day of national constitution. and i'm certain, my fellow americans. [inaudible] the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. [inaudible]

>> just to highlight, when we see roosevelt talk, even in the lecture there.

playing it again. when we see, even in that small clip, how enraptured people were with roosevelt, it was silent, and it was the same thing when his radio fireside chats could be heard. people would say, you can almost hear up and drop when roosevelt was speaking. from his inauguration on word, he promised stability, hope, and answers. as we could see, they weren't always the right answers but they were solutions that took shape.

one of the most interesting ways that roosevelt was able to constantly connect with the people, but also to be able to disseminate his a ideas about reform, and the ways he were able to promised stability and hope in the future, was through this carefully and very interesting and widely studied relationship with the press. it is one of the most interesting avenues in which to understand the presidency, and the reason and weight in which the presidency was able to connect with so many different people. he was fond of having his press rooms in the white house, his press conferences, and he used to love to refer to them as his school room. he often resorted to terms like seminar, or having a budget textbook. he would constantly use these opportunities to educate and to talk about, and to control the message. he could be very manipulative, calculating, and he was a

masterful and skillful use of the press, was unprecedented. we'll never see quite like it. in january of 1934, he invited 35 washington correspondents to his study to explain his budget message to them, and he said afterwards, "it was like a football coach going to practice with his squad." he saw himself as this person that was going to be able to masterfully disseminate the message, and he did. the press absolutely loved him. it was one of the first times that press conferences were no longer scripted. they were informal, colloquial, and he had a very pleasant manner that resonated with members of the press corp. he posted more than 1000 press conferences, which was many more than any of his predecessors had thought about doing.

the press was gleeful. in addition to his regular press conferences, used the radio, film, and he used these tools to his greatest advantage. that was to be able to reshape the politics of the. in the way that he wanted to. he had considerable charm, wrist of a -- charm, charisma, and all of these things work well together to control the relationship. we see at times, very turbulent relationships as we do with the press. he was able to masterfully handle the press, and he had a really great knack of disarming foes. it might be to send a reporter into the corner, call them by their first name, and he use different skills to be able to

negotiate the press. throughout the presidency, this became a very important relationship, but also, tool, for understanding roosevelt's vision. in his very first action, it was a dizzying array of legislation that was passed. on march 5, he immediately issued in bank holiday proclamation. he followed that with the emergency banking bill. that remarkably was enacted in less than eight hours. roosevelt, -- the next headline, was listed and it gave him such extraordinary powers. he demonstrated, that he was going to use the full power of the office, the full powers of the executive office to address the national emergency. he likened it to a war.

on march 12, he had his very first fireside chat to promised the american people, "your savings are secure." he connected with, reassured the people, and in doing so, through these fireside chats, he was able to lift the spirit of the country and forge the kind of link between government and people that we had never seen before. on monday morning, there were no runs on the bank when they reopened that's monday, and march 13, for the first time, since the bank had collapsed, he deposited withdrawals and currency was redeposited back in the bank. as he spoke in his fireside chats, you can see people listening. listening and being comforted by the stability he promised.

it was a dizzying array of legislation that was passed in these first hundred days -- first 100 days. we take a look at roosevelt's views, what i call the shipping of the modern presidency, and i think how roosevelt thought was that a new sigkind of social contract between the people and the government. the administration emerged as the nation's source of popular leadership. he talked about, in response to criticism, as he sort of started to move toward with his legislative agenda, people believed that the president was, with this plan, in acting some of the measures he proposed, was going to be an abuse of executive authority. we have seen this before.

we have had a lecture on lincoln who was criticized with similarly extending too far the power of the executive office. roosevelt responded, and i put it here and read "the state had the possibility of relieving stress of the federal government has always had and continues to have a sponsor -- responsibility for the broader public welfare." the advent of the welfare statement's transferring -- state meant transferring the private sector to the national government. in doing so, it created new responsibilities, not only for the president, but for the national government. he redefined traditional individualism. the government must regulate and sustain agency, they must help people navigate the uncertainties of the market. that was an unthinkable -- what

his opponents would say, an unthinkable a trooijen into people's lives. roosevelt believed that to manage the great depression, he had to build the welfare state and that would only happen through a very strong executive office. we looked last week at woodrow wilson, and teddy roosevelt. he built upon an institutionalized the modern concept of presidential power that wilson and tr first inaugurated. tr first inaugurated. the new deal, we can look at roosevelt's second 100 days, the new deal, which did not have the same array of dizzying legislation, but the laws that were passed and legislation proposed had a significant impact on the shaping and development of the country.

he explained in 1934, that to the development of a national industrial society made it very difficult for people to achieve financial security. that was within the traditional bounds of family and neighborhood, that people had been used to. the complexities of the city, organized industry, required that the federal government help secure their welfare in a time of need. he illustrated the thinking and 1934 fireside chat, which he likened the situation to the remodeling of the old rickety white house. "it is the combination of the old and the new benchmarks or delete peaceful progress, not only in buildings, but in building government itself. all that we do seeks to fulfill the historic tradition of the american people."

when congress convened in 1935, roosevelt called for an unprecedented system of social welfare. early deal programs were designed, not so much to reform but to stabilize and produce recovery. these ideas would move the country in a new direction. the new deal drew on many sources, a brain trust, as it had been described. academic advisors, advice from cabinet members, democratic congressional leaders, and as a has story written -- a historian noted, it's a rose from no mass of land and did not fit deeply into one ideological bond. it was very much roosevelt's vision. in justifying what some saw as expanded use of presidential power, he drew on lincoln street lincoln's precedentsce.

the promotion of life liberty and happiness of all people. roosevelt promoted a new idea and a new deal that suggested " necessitous men are not free men." the new deal, to protect individual security and to try to remedy the broader economic problems that underlay the great depression, here, i have just a sampling of some of the most important pieces of legislation that were passed, which you can read further about in the textbook for purposes today.

i will not go through each one. the new deal sauce to ensure that the economic social and political benefits of american capitalism were distributed more equally among american's large and diverse population. social security was established for the age of unemployed, and the disabled widows, dependent children. work projects were fostering immune eyes asian largely because of the act. this is to provide relief through public employment, to help of federal control of a nation bank and even electric -- even ms. devine: in talking about the new deal, roosevelt summed it up in an address to congress in 1938. we get a since of his he is when he said "government has a final responsibility for the

well-being of its citizens. if private and cooperative and effort fails to provide work for willing hands and relief for the unfortunate, those suffering hardship from no fault of their own, they have the right to call on the government for aid, and a government worthy of its name must make a fitting response." so in looking at roosevelt and the shaping of the modern presidency, the government entered into a new and unprecedented era of responsibility for the american people. one example, in his fireside chats, he had such a wonderful ability of connecting with the people and offering a sense of hope that prior to roosevelt, they needed one person to handle white house mail. with roosevelt, thousands upon thousands of letters made it to

the white house, and slowly but surely other areas burgeoned as the government expanded its powers and roosevelt expanded the staff of the white house. he appointed a committee which proposed the creation of what was called the executive office of the presidency, which was a brand-new office. we are thinking about the growth of the modern presidency and the institutionalization of new ideas and reforms. this was created to mediate and help with political and policy objectives. it expanded the reach of the executive branch of government. dozens of new agencies were created, an alphabet soup of agencies were created.

not all were going to live to survive congress's recommendation, but some of them do survive. in reforming government administration, roosevelt's aim was to continue to achieve the broad social purposes of the new deal, to fulfill his mandate. it led to a squabble as they tend to do between congress and the executive, who should control the agencies. one historian has suggested that the eop wasn't epoch making an event. the institutionalization of the presidency established a new organizational apparatus that presidents and their appointees could use to short-circuit the separation of powers, accelerating the transfer of authority from the congress to

the executive. the 1936 election by this point, there were many anti-new dealers that actively opposed roosevelt's election, so he made this campaign a referendum on the welfare state, and he won. he won by a landslide. interestingly, the 1936 election revealed a new voting pattern for the democratic party, southern whites, northern blacks, rural men, middle-class homeowners, and unemployed men and women. we see a new shaping or reshaping and coalition form

within the democratic party. what was so important about the 1936 election was the most important political changes of his first term would end your. in 1932, it was as much a rejection of uber and his policies at the 1936 victory was a confirmation of his leadership and the new deal, and the election strengthened the democratic hold on congress. now, on the heels of the election, he had to deal with one of the most severe constitutional crises of his the mystic presidency, which was his very controversial plan to expand the supreme court to as many as 15 judges, allegedly to

make it more efficient. critics immediately charge that roosevelt was trying to pack the court and that neutralized supreme court justices hostile to his new deal. during the previous two years, the high court had struck down several key pieces of new deal legislation on the grounds that the laws delegated an unconstitutional amount of authority to the executive branch. so flush with his landslide victory in 1936, roosevelt proposed retirement of full pay for all members of the court over 70. if a justice refused to a tire to retire, there would be an appointment assuring the majority. most republicans and democrats oppose the so-called court packing plan.

don't you love this cartoon? it is wonderful. his bill is defeated ultimately and the congress and senate, and in what roosevelt calls his constitutional revolution of 1937, he is able to a.8 of the nine justices, so the court is ultimately called the roosevelt court. roosevelt set i may not have won the battle, but i won the war, so he is able to validate his new deal, but meddling cost him dearly. we see what are some cases unrepairable ideological fissures among the democratic party. so the court packing scandal revealed some fissures in the democratic party, and in 1938, roosevelt made the very poor choice of intervening in the democratic primary to try to weed out those conservative

democrats who were not supportive of his new deal legislation. he believed that their opposition and vocal opposition to his extension of the new deal was becoming insurmountable, and his chief targets were southern democrats. many southern democrats had a close court packing, opposed his executive reorganization, but also threaten not to back one of his pet projects, which was the united states housing act, which would have supported low-cost housing. of 10 democrats that he oppose come all but one were reelected. so this cost him dearly. so did the men have critics? now we see a president elected, and historically, roosevelt always ranks among the top, him

and washington, with lincoln being number one. he is widely regarded as one of the best presidents ear it now if you went back to 1936, 1935, 1934, 1939 and asked his critics some might quote that man in the white house. i will not say his name. did not like -- there were charges he was a president, not a king had abused the office and had executives from the far left to the far right and whole lot in between. somewhere congressman. many were on the supreme court of the early part of his administration. many businessmen who felt the government intrusion into what they saw as the business life of americans was not appropriate.

there were those led by herbert herbert hoover who said the new deal subverted freedom and does nothing but extend bureaucracy. the american community balked at fdr's demands -- he suggested you recognize the superiority of the federal government in regulating matters of business. critics charge that his executive reform and court packing plan proved he was power-hungry, and some critics suggested he did not promote anti-lynching laws or other civil rights legislation for fear of alienating southern white voters. his goals were ambitious and extensive and while he had many supporters, his enemies were plentiful.

liberals attacked from the left for not providing enough relief and for maintaining the fundamental aspects of capitalism, and conservatives claimed his policies were merely socialism in the skies -- in the skies, and that an interfering activist government was trying across history of self-reliance. it was simply, as herbert hoover argued, a challenge to liberties, but were his critics fair? in 1937, loss of support for his new deal mounted. part of this was because this was on the heels of a recession in 1937, over a 10 month period, industrial production fell, stock prices also fell, and national income fell, all the while unemployment grew. people suggested that the slump

occurred because the administration in attempting to balance the budget had simply cut expenditures to far. they argued that fdr needed to instead cut spending more, repeal taxes, and stop the reform measures. roosevelt watched and waited, which was uncharacteristically roosevelt. it sharply contrasted his energetic style in 1933, but influenced by the resurgence of john maynard, roosevelt asked congress to recertify the $3.7 billion. historians have suggested that his decision to adopt a policy

to combat the recession marked a turning point in the new deal. it was now less about punishing the economic royalists and more about producing stabilizing features to the economy and allowing growth to occur. but the recession and fdr's association with it badly hurt democrats in the 1938 midterm election, and by 1939, congress took a very conservative turn. his critics continue to mount. people suggested the new deal hardly resolved the economic crisis. it was more of a stabilizer than a radical departure. moreover, it did not solve the fundamental forces of social marginalization, the segregation of african-americans, the discrimination against women come the exploitation of sharecroppers, the exclusion of

jewish refugees fleeing nazi horror in europe, and many republicans despise the shift to big government and prolabor policies. moreover, his disregard for civil liberties during the war, the attornment -- internment of japanese men and women after pearl harbor was widely denigrated as not being justified, and moreover shaped as a result of racist policies. the business community who helped to pay for the bill that many roosevelt programs had adopted through taxes and regulatory fees vilified roosevelt and race, class, and identities so deeply and are twined 1930's as now, and critics suggested the new deal did not reach far enough to cure the endemic poverty among some

of these groups. they did not address discrimination in hiring, and african-american leaders championed for initiatives that would go further in addressing issues of racial inequality. so fdr's new deal failed to cure the impression-induced bills of the american economy, and many measures would not survive his residency, but they had substantial impact. they laid important contributions for the nation's infrastructure, schools, airports, playgrounds, bridges, and municipal buildings. it gave emotional and physical sustenance to people and forge their future expectation for a responsive government. the one lasting achievement, the social security act of 1935, which became the cornerstone of the american welfare state for the rest of the century, provided pensions for the

elderly, insurance to the unemployed come and direct assistance to the disabled, elderly, poor, and single mothers and is still considered the new deal's most enduring monument. fdr emerged on the national scene as president during a very difficult national crisis. the great depression created enormous fear and a loss of optimism and democracy itself. fdr responded to the crisis in a series of actions, and in doing so, he inspired hope, a new kind of hope in bodied in the president of the united states. from his compelling and stabilizing inaugural address, summoning congress into an emergency session, resolving the financial crisis, but most of all by his manner. he promised relief, and through his confidence, his resilience, his communication, and his action, people were moved. in one of his fireside chats, one of my favorite, we get a

lens into his views when he said "when andrew jackson, old hickory dark, someone ask him a will he go to heaven? he will if he wants to. if i will ask the american people will pull themselves out of this depression, i answer, they will if they want to. i have no sympathy with the professional economists who insist that things must run their course and that human agency can have no influence on economic ills." and thus the new deal was born and a real of american government and a new partnership and social contract between the government and society. he constantly communicated with the public through the press, educated newspaper writers, public members of the government, and guided the nation through the complex measures he was advocating. he constantly promoted his

ambitious legislative program, and though not the first chief executive to a doctor parole role of legislator, chief legislator, he developed a that function to an unprecedented extent, changing the possibilities and expectations of a president forever. he advocated tirelessly and worked with a receptive congress, wrote letters to urge passage of his proposals. he summoned congressional leadership to the white house to conferences on legislation and appeared in person before congress. he gave hundreds of speeches, hundreds of press conferences, and wrote countless letters, memoranda, and issued numerous executive orders, though not without its tensions, so not without its critics, and as some of his answers to the questions were not always the right answers, fdr demonstrated that individual freedom and

government regulation which promoted economic security could indeed be reconciled. as one historian noted, "if the problems the american people face in the years between 1933-1945 where in some measure and soluble, proximate solutions were found, and that was fdr's ultimate domestic legacy. " and i turned the lectern over to professor neville thompson, who now talk about roosevelts lectures. [applause] mr. thompson: i hope i can give up to my predecessors eloquence. if franklin delano roosevelt had served out the customary to terms -- two terms, if he had served from 1933-1941, he would

have been known above all as a domestic president, a president who tackled the very great problems of the great depression, which professor devine talked about. a different president might not have paid much attention to the rest of the world. this was only 20 years after the end of what was called the great war, what we now call the first world war. what americans wanted to do was stay out of the affairs of the rest of the world. if there were problems in the rest of the world, these were four other countries to solve, and not for the united states. roosevelt was different in the sense that he had a great

interest in the world as well as in his own country, but even roosevelt really only began to turn his attention to the problems of the rest of the world and how these problems might affect the united states about the time of his second election in 1936. it was about that time that he begins to worry that some of the things happening in the world could affect the united states. in retrospect, 19 37, the year after his election, and the troubled decade of the 1930's, it looks like a relatively peaceful year, but this is not how it seemed at the time. there were lots of things to be concerned about in the world and how they might affect the united states. in 1936, nazi germany sees the rhineland, the demilitarized zone between germany and france, which now meant germany's borders were smack up against

those of france. in 1935-1936, fascist italy had attacked ethiopia and italy and conquered it. in 1937, july, japan attacked mainland china having already in 1931 seized manchuria. but above all, what was wearing roosevelt more than any of these things was the spanish civil war that broke out in july, 1936. at first, this war seemed like an endless series of wars in spain going back to the area of napoleon in 1808, but this time this was not a short civil war and was not confined to the state. by 1937, it was becoming a european intellectual -- international event, with the german and attain governments supporting the rebels, fascists so to speak, and soviet russia,

communist, supporting the government, which was made up of a coalition of various people. what worried roosevelt was this revolution might spread to the united states. this now perhaps seems unrealistic since nothing of the kind happened, but this was what was bothering him by 1937, and indeed he thought as many presidents might not have done, that any big war in europe would affect the united states, even as the united states managed to stay out of it. it would affect trade in europe and the fact that the united states had ties with europe. roosevelt was above all worried about the spanish civil war. what he thought might happen was that germany and italy on the one hand, and japan on the other hand, might get basis in south america, and from those bases they would at some point

attacked the united states. perhaps they might even move into mexico which would be a closer base to the united states. none of this happen, but it seemed to roosevelt that it might happen. to most americans of course they were not concerned. they wanted the united states to stay out of wars, and for that reason in 1935 and 1937, neutrality acts were passed by congress, which did their best to keep americans, the american people, american arms, american ships, american loans, well away from any country that was fighting. roosevelt was then in a sense out on a limb for seeing dangers that were not shared by most people in this country. but he had a clear duty to do what he thought was to protect the united states. he did this by securing the western hemisphere, by securing

the americas. shortly after his election before his inauguration as president in 1936, he traveled to bonus hours -- when is harry's, address them and said the united states was going to be a good neighbor. it was not going to fully the countries of south america around. it was going to get along with them. it was going to be their friend. the reason he was doing this was to undermine any overtures by japan or germany to those countries, to make them into friends. in august, 1938, he traveled to kingston, queens university, where he accepted an honorary degree, and in the course of this visit, wrote a declaration that the united states would not

stand idly by if canada were attacked or invaded. the primus of canada a few days later in a speech that she was caught off guard and was not expecting this -- said candidate would do the same. it was not that roosevelt was afraid of an attack from canada, what an attack through canada if canada got involved in a war and some enemy would be able to attack the united states. so by 1938, the hemisphere was relatively safe, relatively safe in south america and to the north in canada. in addition to this at the beginning of 1938, roosevelt had a great idea that perhaps the problems of the world could be solved having the leaders of the

major countries get together, talk about their differences, and this raised a question, where were they going to have such a conference? they could not have it in the united states because most americans wanted to stay out of the war. they could not have it in europe. switzerland was the obvious place, but the league of nations was discredited because it had not been able to stop was -- stop mussolini in ethiopia. probably the best place to have it would be in the azores, halfway across the atlantic. this was his idea. it was probably never going to happen for a number of reasons. one, stalin would never go that far from his own country. it was not possible. it was also highly unlikely that

hitler's and mussolini would accept such an invitation. the british prime minister, neville chamberlain, sort of turned it down because he said, look, there is not enough detail. we can't get people together unless we have something in mind. roosevelt said, well, fine. roosevelt really had nothing in mind. he did not have anything specifically in mind, what they could talk over. probably what he wanted to do was increase trade by reducing tariff barriers and somehow or other settled the territorial disputes by the various countries by conciliation, in other words what we would call today and was called then, what is now a very derogatory term, by -- the conference did not happen and it was regarded as

one of the great missed opportunities of the late 1930's, but it probably was there was not enough basis or some kind of agreement. when in september, october, 1938, the british and french governments enter the german-speaking part of czechoslovakia, roosevelt showed where he stood by sending a cable to neville chamberlain saying, good man. he seemed to have solved the problem, given germany what it wanted, saved the piece for europe, saved the threat to the united states. the situation for the united states in relation to europe became much more series of course when war began in september 1939, when britain and france went to war against germany as germany refused to

withdraw its troops from poland. again, this was not how most americans thought.