![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() By the end of the war, the United States was producing two-thirds of all Allied military equipment and our military had become strongest, most technologically advanced forces in the world. Unemployment was at an all-time low of 1.2 percent as women, minorities, and the disabled received meaningful work. Inventions and innovations included jet engines, the programmable computer, hand-held radios, radar-guided amphibious landing crafts-and the atomic bomb. The following four years saw unprecedented industrial, economic, military, and scientific advancements. By December 7, 1941, when the United States declared war on the Axis Powers, the American economy was mobilized for war. Over 18 months, factories ramped up production and shifted their outputs. To support the allies-without directly committing American troops-President Roosevelt sought to jumpstart production of war materials, transforming the United States into the “Arsenal of Democracy.” In the true spirit of a leader of one of the strongest capitalist governments in the world, he summoned the country’s top businessmen to the White House to advise him on how to pivot manufacturing to support the cause. After the fall of France, it seemed the United Kingdom was the only major power left standing between the Axis and control of Europe-and beyond. ![]() However, across the Atlantic, fascism had taken hold in Germany and Italy, where Hitler and Mussolini were bolstering arms at a rapid pace. Isolationism and nationalism reared its head, exacerbated by the hardships of the Great Depression. In 1940, President Roosevelt faced a history-defining decision: should he involve the United States in the escalating global conflict? The First World War had left the country reeling. ![]()
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