A Blueprint for War: FDR and the Hundred Days that Mobilized America by Susan Dunn

Abstract

Reviewed by: A Blueprint for War: FDR and the Hundred Days that Mobilized America by Susan Dunn Samantha Misa (bio) A Blueprint for War: FDR and the Hundred Days that Mobilized America By Susan Dunn. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2018. 252 pages, 16 halftones in insert, $27.50 cloth. Susan Dunn's latest book is a must-have for anyone with an interest in the United States and its involvement in World War II. Dunn's artfully crafted analysis of Franklin D. Roosevelt's efforts to prepare the country for war prior to Pearl Harbor does a magnificent job of filling in the often overlooked span of time between the New Deal and the "day of infamy." A Blueprint for War begins with the months leading up to FDR's unprecedented third term as president through his third Hundred Days in office from 1940 to 1941. Dunn argues that this period would prove a defining moment in the outcome of not only the global conflict, but also the postwar world. Utilizing speeches, press conferences, newspaper articles, letters, and a refreshing amount of diaries, Dunn outlines how FDR and his advisors were able to prepare for conflict while the nation was "neither fully at peace nor fully at war" (177). Dunn skillfully presents FDR as a truly human leader whose ideas and decisions returned varying degrees of success. Prior to his third term election, Roosevelt's actions predominantly hinged on public opinion, which often favored anti-interventionist sentiment and a desire to remain neutral in the face of another European conflict. Despite this, Roosevelt and other officials, including Secretary of War Henry Stimson, General George Marshall, Admiral Harry Stark, and Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox, carefully developed plans to prepare the nation for a war citizens and isolationist politicians adamantly sought to avoid. While Roosevelt's position as president during an election year compelled an understanding of and acquiescence to public opinion, he was nevertheless successful in preparing for entry into the conflict; FDR was also successful in turning the tide of isolationist opinion toward aiding embattled democracies, notably Britain. While Roosevelt sought to avoid the topic of intervention in 1940, he implemented the Selective Service Act that September, marking the nation's first peacetime draft. His promises that American soldiers would not be sent off to a "foreign war" provided a loophole should the United States be attacked. Knowing that any sort of attack would plunge the unprepared country into war, FDR allowed military leaders to develop contingency plans that ranged from prioritizing defense to full-scale offensive positions in the Atlantic while remaining carefully ambiguous regarding his approval. Roosevelt's early efforts to prepare for defense production led to the formation of the National Defense Advisory Commission (NDAC). When the authority of the NDAC [End Page 210] proved too vague, the creation of the Office of Production Management (OPM) resolved a number of issues on the labor front while increasing the output of war material. Such supplies were desperately needed by Britain, but FDR was hindered from providing aid as Americans feared assistance would be viewed as a breach of neutrality. Aid to Britain in 1940 was couched in reciprocal terms, such as the exchange of destroyer ships for British territories in the Caribbean and the shipment of B-17 aircraft for "testing" in combat situations. As it became increasingly apparent that appeasement and avoidance would not curtail the growing threat of Hitler's armies, FDR relied on "education and persuasion" to turn American sentiment toward aiding Britain in a manner that would not "infuriate the internationalists or alienate the isolationists" (39). Roosevelt invoked the rhetoric of the Monroe Doctrine; the safety of the United States hinged on the protection of the Western Hemisphere. Roosevelt argued that providing war material to Britain was in the republic's best interest—using factories for defense production meant the country would be prepared industrially should it be attacked, and helping Britain defeat the Nazis with munitions could preclude the need for any involvement of American soldiers. Neutrality was retained through the implementation of the Lend-Lease Act, a remarkable loophole that allowed the United States to provide supplies and...