Leaders in Context I: Domestic Constraints on Foreign Policy Making

Abstract

Well before the United States was attacked at Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt had become convinced that the Axis powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan) could not be stopped without U.S. involvement in World War II. He also knew that Congress would not permit the United States to enter the war at that point. In the period between the two World Wars, the United States had returned to isolationism, which meant that the country avoided an active role in world affairs. This policy was supported by the domestic public as well as the Congress, which made it difficult for President Roosevelt to get what he wanted.