ABSTRACT
From the outbreak of war in Europe in 1939 until Pearl Harbor, the American people were involved in a great debate over the direction of the nation’s foreign policy. When considering foreign policy issues, President Franklin Roosevelt made numerous references to the importance of public opinion. Following the passage of the Lend-Lease Act, Roosevelt stated that “we have just now engaged in a great debate. It was not limited to the halls of Congress. It was argued in every newspaper, on every wave length, over every cracker barrel in all the land; and it was finally settled and decided by the American people themselves.”1
