By: Jordan Gonzalez
Brief Bio
Born on January 30, 1882, in Hyde Park, New York, Franklin D. Roosevelt. He became the 32nd U.S. president in 1933, and was the only president to be elected four times. Roosevelt led the United States through the Great Depression and World War II, and greatly expanded the powers of the federal government through a series of programs and reforms known as the New Deal. Roosevelt died in Georgia in 1945.
What caused you to decide to enter World War II?
I decided to get the U.S. involved because of the devastating bombing at Pearl Harbor. There was a great amount of damage done there, and it caused many American lives to be lost. We did not want to join so early, but this attack forced us to take action. We just recovered from the Great Depression, and now we had the money to affectively help the Allied Powers.
What was the Versailles Treaty and how did this affect you to join World War II?
The point of the treaty was to stop Germany from attacking other countries, not on land, but in the ocean. They were using their submarines in unrestricted areas, where the treaty told them not to go. It also made them stop building their arms and stopping trade in the Pacific Ocean. This made me in a way join World War II by breaking the Treaty of Versailles. But what made me even more furious was when the Germans formed the Nazi Party. Their views i believed were very wrong, killing innocent Jews because they were "imperfect". I did not intervene with their evil ways until their ally, Hirohito, launched an attack on Pearl Harbor.
What are the main aims of the League of Nations?
The main aim of the League of Nations was basically form world peace. We wanted to end secret agreements among nations and prevent future wars. They tried to do this by encouraging global disarming. With this there will be world peace but obviously this would never happen due to trade conflicts and false accusations between the countries. World Peace seems like a great idea, but it takes many arguments to finally achieve it.
How did you and the United States view Hitler?
We viewed him as a coward. He not only put Jewish people into concentration camps but he treated them harshly and killed them as well. We put Japanese Americans into concentration camps but we didn't kill them! He was also the reason for World War II because he started imprisoning Jews and invading other countries. He broke the Treaty of Versailles as well. Then when World War II ended he killed himself to not face any prison times.
Why did it take so long for the you and the United States to enter World War II?
We were still recovering from the Great Depression and we did not have the kind of money to contribute to the Allies that much. We stayed neutral to gain money from trading with Great Britain and the Allied powers. We also did not have a real reason to join. Despite the Nazi spreading their evil, they were not interfering with the U.S. in any way. This is until the attack on Pearl Harbor that we finally had a reason. It was terrible that the reason was the loss of hundreds of lives, but war is war.