Chapter 259: The End of France (29)
Although Wendell Willkie of the House of Commons is now a strong competitor of Roosevelt, he has always supported the Democratic Party.
He was born in a lawyer family in Indiana. His father was a staunch Democratic Party member. When Willkie was four years old, he took him to participate in the Democratic Party's campaign. When he was in college, he wrote a letter to Woodrow Wilson (the 28th President of the United States) to express his admiration.
It was not until 1933 that President Roosevelt proposed the establishment of the Tennessee Valley Authority to coordinate the planning, development and maintenance of the Tennessee River Basin and supply cheap electricity to backward rural areas. This move will greatly damage the interests of private power companies in the region, and thus caused a fierce backlash.
Willkie was even more furious. You know, he started working for the Federal and Southern Power Companies in 1929 and gradually promoted to chairman. Under his leadership, 19 power companies jointly sued the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Willkie fiercely criticized the Tennessee Valley Authority, calling it "the most useless and unnecessary decoration." The case caused a sensation and attracted the attention of the whole United States, but the trial process was full of twists and turns. It was not until 1939 that the Supreme Court made a final decision, confirming the legality of the Valley Authority and ruling that private power companies had no right to complain about the government's participation in market competition.
Although Willkie lost the case, his talent and support for enterprises won the support of the business community and the media. Wall Street tycoons appreciated him very much. Walter Lippmann (American news critic and writer. One of the most influential scholars in the history of communication, with a high reputation in propaganda analysis and public opinion research) praised him as the most open-minded entrepreneur. Fortune magazine published an interview with him, and Life and Time magazine both selected him as the cover character. Willkie became a focus figure for a while.
Willkie believed that the Democratic Party led by Roosevelt had deviated from the traditional political line and became more and more anti-business. In the end, he decided to leave the Democratic Party and join the House of Representatives election as a dark horse.
Faced with this sudden dark horse, Roosevelt had to be more cautious in his election preparations; once he expressed his willingness to aid Britain, it would certainly give those isolationists an opportunity to criticize him.
As early as January 28, 1939, Roosevelt sent a message to Congress requesting a $1 billion appropriation to expand naval armaments, proposing that the United States must prepare for a two-ocean war and establish a two-ocean standard navy, that is, to establish a two-ocean fleet equal to the combined naval power of Germany, Italy and Japan. The isolationists strongly opposed it, suspecting that Roosevelt wanted to join forces with Britain to play the trick of "European power politics".
In January 1939, near Los Angeles, a new American bomber crashed during a test flight, and the body of a French lieutenant pilot was found in the wreckage. He came to learn about the new American weapons.
This accident revealed the inside story of Britain and France purchasing weapons and equipment from the United States, and the isolationists were in an uproar. The Senate Armed Services Committee decided to hold a hearing, and Harry Woodring, the Secretary of the Army who held isolationist views, was summoned to Congress to testify. He made a testimony that was unfavorable to Morgenthau, the Secretary of the Treasury and Roosevelt's confidant who presided over the arms negotiations with France.
The isolationists accused Roosevelt of violating the spirit of the Neutrality Act, promoting "his own private diplomacy", deviating from the clear principles set by Washington, and making the United States "fall into the trap of the Europeans". In order to calm the noise of the isolationists, Roosevelt invited some senators to the White House for a long private talk. A senator revealed to a reporter that Roosevelt had said that "the border of the United States is on the Rhine River." The isolationists were furious again. Roosevelt was also very angry and denounced the news as "absurd" and a fabrication of some "stupid people".
Not only these covetous isolationists, but also the Neutrality Act clearly stipulated by law also restricted Roosevelt from funding Britain.
In 1936, on the eve of Italy's invasion of Ethiopia, isolationists inside and outside the U.S. Congress took advantage of the American people's reluctance to be involved in a new war and pushed Congress to pass the first Neutrality Act on August 31, stipulating that "when war breaks out between two or more foreign countries or during the course of a war, the President shall declare that it is illegal to transport weapons, ammunition and military equipment from any location in the United States or its territories to ports of belligerent countries, or to neutral countries for transshipment to belligerent countries". It also prohibits U.S. ships from carrying military supplies to belligerent countries and U.S. citizens from traveling on ships of belligerent countries, but does not prohibit the export of other materials including strategic materials.
When the law expired at the end of February 1937, Congress immediately passed the second Neutrality Act, extending the validity of the first Neutrality Act to May 1, 1938, and supplementing the clause prohibiting loans to belligerent countries.
On April 29, 1938, Congress passed the third Neutrality Act. In addition to the provisions of the previous two laws, it also stipulated that the Neutrality Act applies to countries where civil wars occur, authorizing the president to determine whether a state of war exists. He not only has the right to prohibit the export of weapons to belligerent countries, but also prohibits the export of any goods to belligerent countries.
Before and after the outbreak of the European war in 1939, President Roosevelt determined that the US line of defense was in Europe and proposed to Congress to amend the Neutrality Act many times. However, Congress is still debating this proposal and has not passed it; so Roosevelt is powerless to help Britain.
Churchill also knew these situations, but he still asked Roosevelt for help again and again.
"The situation has deteriorated rapidly. The enemy is clearly superior in the air, and their new technology is making a deep impression on the minds of the French. I personally believe that the ground war has only just begun, and I would like to see the masses join in the war. Until So far, the Germans are fighting with special tank units and air forces. Those small countries are being smashed one by one like matchsticks. We expect that in the near future we will be attacked by air raids and paratroopers and airlift troops. "We are prepared for this and will continue to fight alone if necessary. We are not afraid of fighting alone."
"But, Mr. President, I believe you will realize that if the voice and power of the United States are suppressed for too long, it may not have much effect. A Europe completely conquered by Germany will soon appear in front of us. This pressure Maybe it's more than we can afford. What I'm asking now is: you declare a state of non-belligerence, which means that you will do everything you can to help us except actually sending armed forces to the war."
Churchill did not buy a large warship last time, but this time he reduced the tonnage. "(The United States) needs to borrow 40 to 50 older destroyers to make up for the gap between our existing ships and the large number of new ships we have started building since the beginning of the war." In addition, it is hoped that the United States will provide hundreds of the latest destroyers Combat aircraft and a batch of much-needed air defense equipment, ammunition and steel. Churchill also said: "As long as we can still pay in dollars, we will continue to use dollars to buy; but I have reason to believe that even if we cannot pay, you will still provide us with supplies."
These last words were written in an almost begging tone, and were simply embarrassing to the family. Perhaps in order to save the last face of the British Empire, Churchill still signed his name as "former naval personnel".