How Domestic Politics Influenced Foreign Policy in the 1940 Election

The 1940 election marked a new era in
presidential politics. With a cataclysmic crisis
developing, Americans could no longer ignore foreign
affairs. Roosevelt, a remarkably astute politician,
evermindful of public opinion, believed that U.S.
national security was tied to foreign affairs. With
the outbreak of war, he considered challenging
the "no-third-term" tradition. As the Nazi threat
grew, FDR remained silent about his political
future, but worked feversihly to aid the Allies and
awaken Americans to the danger of Hitler. A
multitude of forces were arrayed against FDR that
strongly opposed U.S. involvement in another
European War. To keep Britain viable and his
reelection options open Roosevelt played politics
with foreign policy, manipulating it to further his
political agenda. The literature on Roosevelt is
overwhelming, yet previous works concerning this
election deal with the influence of foreign affairs
on domestic politics. This book considers the
opposite -- how politics shaped U.S. foreign
policy. The analysis presented sheds new light on
this exciting election and is a must-read for all
FDR scholars.

Autorentext
David M. DeSilvio, Ph.D.: Studied U.S. Foreign Relations and Modern U.S. History at Wayne State University.

Klappentext
The 1940 election marked a new era in presidential politics. With a cataclysmic crisis developing, Americans could no longer ignore foreign affairs. Roosevelt, a remarkably astute politician, evermindful of public opinion, believed that U.S. national security was tied to foreign affairs. With the outbreak of war, he considered challenging the "no-third-term" tradition. As the Nazi threat grew, FDR remained silent about his political future, but worked feversihly to aid the Allies and awaken Americans to the danger of Hitler. A multitude of forces were arrayed against FDR that strongly opposed U.S. involvement in another European War. To keep Britain viable and his reelection options open Roosevelt played politics with foreign policy, manipulating it to further his political agenda. The literature on Roosevelt is overwhelming, yet previous works concerning this election deal with the influence of foreign affairs on domestic politics. This book considers the opposite -- how politics shaped U.S. foreign policy. The analysis presented sheds new light on this exciting election and is a must-read for all FDR scholars.