CHURHILL AND THE SECRET SERVICE AND CAMP X

Camp X was the first secret agent training camp ever to be built in North America. Established early in the Second World War by Britain’s Special Operations Executive on the Canadian shore of Lake Ontario, it trained dozens of Americans and Canadians in the arts of secret war including paramilitary skills, close combat, disguise, secret ciphers, propaganda, and undercover operations. 

Many of the Camp’s graduates became secret agents in enemy-occupied Europe and Asia. Others were sent to South or Central America to counter Nazi espionage and subversion against the allied war effort. Still others worked at the Camp’s HYDRA radio station responsible for transmitting some of the most sensitive intelligence material to pass between secret services across the Atlantic. 

Based on eyewitness accounts and secret files in London, Washington, and Ottawa, the cast of this real life spy adventure also includes Sir William Stephenson (‘Intrepid’), OSS chief ‘Wild Bill’ Donovan, and FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. This edition includes a new preface by the author bringing the story up to date. A documentary based on the book will be shown on the History Channel in 2014. 

“True and fascinating… told in vivid detail… With the excitement of a first-rate thriller Camp X dramatically chronicles a key period in the genesis of the international game.” - Stars and Stripes 

“The course of study at Camp X reads like a James Bond training school.” - Indianapolis Star 

“Required reading for any potential 007” - Sunday Mirro

Although Winston Churchill was rarely at a loss for words, his richly detailed memoirs are remarkably silent on the subjects of espionage and clandestine affairs. Stafford, a former diplomat who has written extensively on intelligence affairs, has filled in great gaps in our knowledge of events, ranging from the Cuban insurrection in 1895 to the overthrow of the Musaddiq government in Iran in 1953. Churchill, always a man of the nineteenth century in outlook and prejudice, had a lifelong fascination with the "Great Game" as practiced in the borderlands of India and its variations around the world. His sometimes overly romantic view of espionage led to occasionally reckless and costly errors. However, Stafford feels Churchill's utilization of intelligence operations was generally a plus for Britain and the West. Stafford's narrative is concise, easy to follow (even for the general reader), and often exciting. Lovers of spy novels should get particular enjoyment from the fine examination of the genuine article. Jay Freeman

Former diplomat Stafford compellingly tells the fateful story of Winston Churchill's lifelong obsession with intelligence and secret warfare, which had both trivial and large-scale consequences for the British from the Boer War through the 1950s. From the outset of his colorful multiple career as an imperial officer, journalist, man of letters, and statesman, Churchill evinced a romantic fascination with the arcana of secret intelligence work. Stafford, an intelligence historian (The Silent Game, not reviewed), traces this fixation to a brief 1895 stint in Cuba, where Churchill covered the rebellion against Spain for a British newspaper. At once idealizing and fearing the rebels, Churchill saw for the first time the effects of a popular insurrection fought by guerrillas: The rebels, who had perfect intelligence of Spanish locations and operations, often fought with an insurmountable advantage over the unwieldy government forces. Churchill had similar reactions to other guerrilla tactics he observed or experienced, whether in Ireland in the troubles of 191621 or by anticommunist forces against the Bolshevik regime in the early 1920s; guerrillas, cloaked in secrecy and backed by popular support, were able to win wars against numerically superior conventional opponents through superior intelligence and covert activities. During WW I he founded the first signals intelligence organization, and after the collapse of the tsarist regime he became deeply involved in the ultimately disastrous anticommunist activities of master spy Sidney Reilly. It was as a wartime prime minister, however, that Churchill's concern with spying had the most concrete effect: He forged an important intelligence alliance with the US, oversaw Britain's ``Ultra'' operation, which brilliantly intercepted the communications of the Nazi command, and founded the Special Operations Executive, which ran daring operations in Nazi-occupied Europe, gave aid to resistance movements across Europe, and ultimately engendered Britain's modern intelligence apparatus. A first-rate and, what is more remarkable, an original contribution to Churchilliana, of sure interest to students of Churchill, modern history, or military intelligence. (25 b&w photos) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Winston Churchill believed passionately in the value of secret intelligence, in times of war as well as of peace. Historian David Stafford makes the compelling case that one cannot understand Churchill's astounding success as a modern day statesman without reference to his deep involvement in the world of espionage. With absorbing detail about the secret world of agents and double-agents, this groundbreaking work traces Churchill's connections with that world, from his days as a member of the Cabinet that established the Secret Service to the war years, when his extensive intelligence network provided him with superior information. What results is a major contribution to the study of modern and military history and a crucial missing key to understanding Churchill himself.Winston Churchill believed passionately in the value of secret intelligence, in times of war as well as of peace. Historian David Stafford makes the compelling case that one cannot understand Churchill's astounding success as a modern day statesman without reference to his deep involvement in the world of espionage. With absorbing detail about the secret world of agents and double-agents, this groundbreaking work traces Churchill's connections with that world, from his days as a member of the Cabinet that established the Secret Service to the war years, when his extensive intelligence network provided him with superior information. What results is a major contribution to the study of modern and military history and a crucial missing key to understanding Churchill himself.

The FDR Legacy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_D._Roosevelt#Foreign_policy.2C_1937.E2.80.9341

As World War II loomed after 1938, with the Japanese invasion of China and the aggression of Nazi Germany, Roosevelt gave strong diplomatic and financial support to China and the United Kingdom, while remaining officially neutral. His goal was to make America the "Arsenal of Democracy", which would supply munitions to the Allies. In March 1941, Roosevelt, with Congressional approval, provided Lend-Lease aid to Britain and China. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, which he called a "date which will live in infamy", he made war on Japan and Germany. Assisted by his top aide Harry Hopkins, and with very strong national support, he worked closely with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in leading the Allies against Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Imperial Japan in World War II. He supervised the mobilization of the U.S. economy to support the war effort, and also ordered the internment of 100,000Japanese American civilians. As an active military leader, Roosevelt implemented a war strategy on two fronts that ended in the defeat of the Axis Powers and the development of the world's first nuclear bomb. His work also influenced the later creation of the United Nations and Bretton Woods. During the war, unemployment dropped to 2%, relief programs largely ended, and the industrial economy grew rapidly to new heights as millions of people moved to wartime factory jobs or entered military service.^[4] Bureau of the Census, Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1946 (1946) pp. 507, 629, 749, 755, 811.Roosevelt's health seriously declined during the war years, and he died three months into his fourth term. He is often rated by scholars as one of the top three U.S. Presidents, along with Abraham Lincoln and George Washington.^[5]Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., "Ranking the Presidents: From Washington to Clinton". Political Science Quarterly (1997) 112#2 pp: 179–190. doi:10.2307/2657937.

The aggressive foreign policy of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler in Germany after 1933 aroused fears of a new world war. Americans wanted to keep out of it and in 1937 Congress passed an even more stringent Neutrality act. But when Japan invaded China in 1937, public opinion strongly favored China, and Roosevelt found various ways to assist that nation.^[190]

In October 1937, Roosevelt gave the Quarantine Speech aiming to contain aggressor nations. He proposed that warmongering states be treated as a public health menace and be "quarantined."^[191]Meanwhile, he secretly stepped up a program to build long-range submarines that could blockade Japan.^[192]Murray, Williamson; Millett, Allan R (2001), A war to be won: fighting the Second World War, pp. 223–4

At the time of the Munich Agreement in 1938 — with the U.S. not represented — Roosevelt said the country would not join a "stop-Hitler bloc" under any circumstances. He made it quite clear that, in the event of German aggression against Czechoslovakia, the U.S. would remain neutral.^[193][194] Roosevelt said in 1939 that France and Britain were America's "first line of defense" and needed American aid, but because of widespread isolationist sentiment, he reiterated the US itself would not go to war.^[195] In the spring of 1939, Roosevelt allowed the French to place huge orders with the American aircraft industry on a cash-and-carry basis, as allowed by law. Most of the aircraft ordered had not arrived in France by the time of its collapse in May 1940, so Roosevelt arranged in June 1940 for French orders to be sold to the British.^[196]

When World War II began in September 1939 with Germany's invasion of Poland, Roosevelt rejected the Wilsonian neutrality stance and sought ways to assist Britain and France militarily.^[197] At first he gave only covert support to repeal of the arms embargo provisions of the Neutrality Act.^[198] He began a regular secret correspondence with the First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill in September 1939 — the first of 1,700 letters and telegrams between them^[199] — discussing ways of supporting Britain. Roosevelt forged a close personal relationship with Churchill, who became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in May 1940.

His relations with Charles de Gaulle, leader of Free France, were more strained, for a long time he refused to recognize de Gaulle as the representative of France, preferring to deal with representatives of the Vichy government. Roosevelt did not recognize de Gaulle's provisional government until late 1944.^[200]

In April 1940, Germany invaded Denmark and Norway, followed by invasions of the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and France in May. The German victories left Britain isolated in western Europe. Roosevelt, who was determined that Britain not be defeated, took advantage of the rapid shifts of public opinion. The fall of Paris shocked American opinion, and isolationist sentiment declined. A consensus was clear that military spending had to be dramatically expanded. There was no consensus on how much the US should risk war in helping Britain.^[201] In July 1940, FDR appointed two interventionist Republican leaders, Henry L. Stimson and Frank Knox, as Secretaries of War and the Navy, respectively. Both parties gave support to his plans for a rapid build-up the American military, but the isolationists warned that Roosevelt would get the nation into an unnecessary war with Germany.^[202] Congress authorized the nation's first peacetime draft.^[203]In April 1940, Germany invaded Denmark and Norway, followed by invasions of the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and France in May. The German victories left Britain isolated in western Europe. Roosevelt, who was determined that Britain not be defeated, took advantage of the rapid shifts of public opinion. The fall of Paris shocked American opinion, and isolationist sentiment declined. A consensus was clear that military spending had to be dramatically expanded. There was no consensus on how much the US should risk war in helping Britain.^[201] In July 1940, FDR appointed two interventionist Republican leaders, Henry L. Stimson and Frank Knox, as Secretaries of War and the Navy, respectively. Both parties gave support to his plans for a rapid build-up the American military, but the isolationists warned that Roosevelt would get the nation into an unnecessary war with Germany.^[202] Congress authorized the nation's first peacetime draft.^[203]

Roosevelt used his personal charisma to build support for intervention. America should be the "Arsenal of Democracy", he told his fireside audience.^[204] On September 2, 1940, Roosevelt openly defied the Neutrality Acts by passing the Destroyers for Bases Agreement, which, in exchange for military base rights in the British Caribbean Islands, gave 50 WWI American destroyers to Britain. The U.S. also received free base rights in Bermuda andNewfoundland, allowing British forces to be moved to the sharper end of the war; the idea of an exchange of warships for bases such as these originated in the cabinet.^[205]Hitler and Mussolini responded to the deal by joining with Japan in the Tripartite Pact.^[206]

• Burns, James MacGregor (1956). Roosevelt 1. Easton Press. ISBN 978-0-15-678870-0.

The agreement with Britain was a precursor of the March 1941 Lend-Lease agreement, which began to direct massive military and economic aid to Britain, the Republic of China, and later the Soviet Union. For foreign policy advice, Roosevelt turned to Harry Hopkins, who became his chief wartime advisor. They sought innovative ways short of going to war to help Britain, whose financial resources were exhausted by the end of 1940.^[207] Congress, where isolationist sentiment was waning, passed the Lend-Lease Act in March 1941, allowing the U.S. to give Wales, England, Scotland, China, and later the Soviet Union military supplies. The legislation had hit a logjam until Senators Byrd, Byrnes and Taft added a provision subjecting it to appropriation by Congress.^[208] Congress voted to commit to spend $50 billion on military supplies from 1941 to 1945. In sharp contrast to the loans of World War I, there would be no repayment after the war. Until late in 1941, Roosevelt refused Churchill's urgent requests for armed escort of ships bound for Britain, insisting on a more passive patrolling function in the western Atlantic.^[209]

The two-term tradition had been an unwritten rule (until the 22nd Amendment after Roosevelt's presidency) since George Washington declined to run for a third term in 1796. Both Ulysses S. Grant and Theodore Roosevelt were attacked for trying to obtain a third non-consecutive term. Roosevelt systematically undercut prominent Democrats who were angling for the nomination, including Vice President John Nance Garner^[210] and two cabinet members, Secretary of State Cordell Hull and James Farley, Roosevelt's campaign manager in 1932 and 1936, the Postmaster General and the Democratic Party chairman. Roosevelt moved the convention to Chicago where he had strong support from the city machine (which controlled the auditorium sound system). At the convention the opposition was poorly organized, but Farley had packed the galleries. Roosevelt sent a message saying that he would not run unless he was drafted, and that the delegates were free to vote for anyone. The delegates were stunned; then the loudspeaker screamed "We want Roosevelt... The world wants Roosevelt!" The delegates went wild and he was nominated by 946 to 147 on the first ballot. The tactic employed by Roosevelt was not entirely successful, as his goal had been to be drafted by acclamation.^[211] The new vice-presidential nominee was Henry Agard Wallace, a liberal intellectual who was Secretary of Agriculture.^[212]

In his campaign against Republican Wendell Willkie, Roosevelt stressed both his proven leadership experience and his intention to do everything possible to keep the United States out of war. In one of his speeches he declared to potential recruits that "you boys are not going to be sent into any foreign war."^[213] He won the 1940 election with 55% of the popular vote and 38 of the 48 states, and thus winning almost 85% of the electoral vote (449 to 82).^[214] A shift to the left within the Administration was shown by the naming of Henry A. Wallace as Vice President in place of the conservative Texan John Nance Garner, who had become a bitter enemy of Roosevelt after 1937.

Third term, 1941–45

Main article: United States home front during World War II

Roosevelt tried to avoid repeating what he saw as Woodrow Wilson's mistakes in World War I.^[215] He often made exactly the opposite decision. Wilson called for neutrality in thought and deed, while Roosevelt made it clear his administration strongly favored Britain and China. Unlike the loans in World War I, the United States made large-scale grants of military and economic aid to the Allies through Lend-Lease, with little expectation of repayment. Wilson did not greatly expand war production before the declaration of war; Roosevelt did. Wilson waited for the declaration to begin a draft; Roosevelt started one in 1940. Wilson never made the United States an official ally but Roosevelt did. Wilson never met with the top Allied leaders but Roosevelt did. Wilson proclaimed independent policy, as seen in the 14 Points, while Roosevelt always had a collaborative policy with the Allies. In 1917, United States declared war on Germany; in 1941, Roosevelt waited until the enemy attacked at Pearl Harbor. Wilson refused to collaborate with the Republicans; Roosevelt named leading Republicans to head the War Department and the Navy Department. Wilson let General George Pershing make the major military decisions; Roosevelt made the major decisions in his war. He rejected the idea of an armistice and demanded unconditional surrender. Roosevelt often mentioned his role in the Wilson administration, but added that he had profited more from Wilson's errors than from his successes.^{[216][217][218][219]}

Third term, 1941–45

Main article: United States home front during World War II

Roosevelt tried to avoid repeating what he saw as Woodrow Wilson's mistakes in World War I.^[215] He often made exactly the opposite decision. Wilson called for neutrality in thought and deed, while Roosevelt made it clear his administration strongly favored Britain and China. Unlike the loans in World War I, the United States made large-scale grants of military and economic aid to the Allies through Lend-Lease, with little expectation of repayment. Wilson did not greatly expand war production before the declaration of war; Roosevelt did. Wilson waited for the declaration to begin a draft; Roosevelt started one in 1940. Wilson never made the United States an official ally but Roosevelt did. Wilson never met with the top Allied leaders but Roosevelt did. Wilson proclaimed independent policy, as seen in the 14 Points, while Roosevelt always had a collaborative policy with the Allies. In 1917, United States declared war on Germany; in 1941, Roosevelt waited until the enemy attacked at Pearl Harbor. Wilson refused to collaborate with the Republicans; Roosevelt named leading Republicans to head the War Department and the Navy Department. Wilson let General George Pershing make the major military decisions; Roosevelt made the major decisions in his war. He rejected the idea of an armistice and demanded unconditional surrender. Roosevelt often mentioned his role in the Wilson administration, but added that he had profited more from Wilson's errors than from his successes.^{[216][217][218][219]}

Policies

	State of the Union (Four Freedoms) (January 6, 1941) MENU 0:00 Franklin Delano Roosevelt's January 6, 1941 State of the Union Addressintroducing the theme of the Four Freedoms (starting at 32:02)
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Roosevelt's third term was dominated by World War II. Roosevelt slowly began re-armament in 1938, although he was facing strong isolationist sentiment from leaders like Senators William Borah and Robert A. Taft. By 1940, re-armament was in high gear, with bipartisan support, partly to expand and re-equip the Army and Navy and partly to become the "Arsenal of Democracy" supporting Britain, France, China and (after June 1941), the Soviet Union.^[220] As Roosevelt took a firmer stance against the Axis Powers, American isolationists (including Charles Lindbergh and America First) vehemently attacked the President as an irresponsible warmonger.^[221] Roosevelt initiated FBI and Internal Revenue Service investigations of his loudest critics, though no legal actions resulted.^[222] Unfazed by these criticisms and confident in the wisdom of his foreign policy initiatives, FDR continued his twin policies of preparedness and aid to the Allied coalition. On December 29, 1940, he delivered his Arsenal of Democracy fireside chat, in which he made the case for involvement in the war directly to the American people. A week later he delivered his famous Four Freedoms speech laying out the case for an American defense of basic rights throughout the world.

The homefront was subject to dynamic social changes throughout the war, though domestic issues were no longer Roosevelt's most urgent policy concern. The military buildup spurred economic growth. Unemployment fell in half from 7.7 million in spring 1940 (when the first accurate statistics were compiled) to 3.4 million in fall 1941 and fell in half again to 1.5 million in fall 1942, out of a labor force of 54 million.^[c] There was a growing labor shortage, accelerating the second wave of the Great Migration of African Americans, farmers and rural populations to manufacturing centers. African Americans from the South went to California and other West Coast states for new jobs in the defense industry. To pay for increased government spending, in 1941 FDR proposed that Congress enact an income tax rate of 99.5% on all income over $100,000; when the proposal failed, he issued an executive order imposing an income tax of 100% on income over $25,000, which Congress rescinded.^[224]

When Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, Roosevelt agreed to extend Lend-Lease to the Soviets. Thus, Roosevelt had committed the U.S. to the Allied side with a policy of "all aid short of war."^[225] Execution of the aid fell victim to foot dragging in the administration so FDR appointed a special assistant, Wayne Coy, to expedite matters.^[226] Later that year a German submarine fired on the U.S. destroyer Greer, and Roosevelt declared that the U.S. Navy would assume an escort role for Allied convoys in the Atlantic as far east as Great Britain and would fire upon German ships or submarines (U-boats) of the Kriegsmarine if they entered the U.S. Navy zone. This "shoot on sight" policy effectively declared Naval war on Germany and was favored by Americans by a margin of 2-to-1.^[227]

Roosevelt and Churchill conducted a highly secret bilateral meeting in Argentia, Newfoundland, and on August 14, 1941, drafted the Atlantic Charter, conceptually outlining global wartime and postwar goals. All the Allies endorsed it. This was the first of several wartime conferences;^[228] Churchill and Roosevelt would meet ten more times in person.^[229] In July 1941, Roosevelt had ordered Secretary of War Henry Stimson, to begin planning for total American military involvement. The resulting "Victory Program" provided the Army's estimates necessary for the total mobilization of manpower, industry, and logistics to defeat Germany and Japan. The program also planned to dramatically increase aid to the Allied nations and to have ten million men in arms, half of whom would be ready for deployment abroad in 1943. Roosevelt was firmly committed to the Allied cause and these plans had been formulated before Japan's Attack on Pearl Harbor.^[225]

Congress was debating a modification of the Neutrality Act in October 1941, when the USS Kearny, along with other ships, engaged a number of U-boats south of Iceland; the Kearny took fire and lost eleven crewmen. As a result, the amendment of the Neutrality Act to permit the arming of the merchant marine passed both houses, though by a slim margin.^[230]

In 1942, war production increased dramatically, but fell short of the goals established by the President, due in part to manpower shortages.^[231] The effort was also hindered by numerous strikes by union workers, especially in the coal mining and railroad industries, which lasted well into 1944.^[232][233] The White House became the ultimate site for labor mediation, conciliation or arbitration.^[234] One particular battle royal occurred, between Vice-President Wallace, who headed the Board of Economic Warfare, and Jesse Jones, in charge of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation; both agencies assumed responsibility for acquisition of rubber supplies and came to loggerheads over funding. FDR resolved the dispute by dissolving both agencies.^[235]

In 1944, the President requested that Congress enact legislation which would tax all unreasonable profits, both corporate and individual, and thereby support his declared need for over $10 billion in revenue for the war and other government measures. The Congress passed a revenue bill raising $2 billion, which FDR vetoed, though Congress in turn overrode him.^[236]

Pearl Harbor and declarations of war

See also: Events leading to the attack on Pearl Harbor, Attack on Pearl Harbor and Europe first

Roosevelt signing declaration of war against Japan (left) on December 8 and against Germany (right) on December 11, 1941.

When Japan occupied northern French Indochinain late 1940, FDR authorized increased aid to theRepublic of China, a policy that won widespread popular support. In July 1941, after Japan occupied the remainder of Indo-China, he cut off the sale of oil to Japan, which thus lost more than 95 percent of its oil supply. Roosevelt continued negotiations with the Japanese government, primarily through Secretary Hull. Japan PremierFumimaro Konoye desired a summit conference with FDR which the US rejected. Konoye was replaced with Minister of War Hideki Tojo.^[237]Meanwhile, Roosevelt started sending long-range B-17 bombers to the Philippines.

FDR felt that an attack by the Japanese was probable – most likely in the Dutch East Indies or Thailand.^[238] On December 4, 1941, The Chicago Tribune published the complete text of "Rainbow Five", a top-secret war plan drawn up by the War Department. It dealt chiefly with mobilization issues, calling for a 10-million-man army.

The great majority of scholars have rejected the conspiracy thesis that Roosevelt, or any other high government officials, knew in advance about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The Japanese had kept their secrets closely guarded. Senior American officials were aware that war was imminent, but they did not expect an attack on Pearl Harbor.^[239]

On the morning of December 7, 1941, the Japanese struck the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor with a surprise attack, knocking out the main American battleship fleet and killing 2,403 American servicemen and civilians. Roosevelt called for war in his famous "Infamy Speech" to Congress, in which he said: "Yesterday, December 7, 1941 — a date which will live in infamy — the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan."

In 1942 Roosevelt set up a new military command structure with Admiral Ernest J. King as Chief of Naval Operations in complete control of the Navy and Marines; General George C. Marshall in charge of the Army and in nominal control of the Air Force, which in practice was commanded by General Hap Arnold. Roosevelt formed a new body, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, which made the final decisions on American military strategy.^[240] The Joint Chiefs was a White House agency and was chaired by Admiral William D. Leahy. When dealing with Europe, the Joint Chiefs met with their British counterparts and formed the Combined Chiefs of Staff.^{[241][page needed]} Unlike the political leaders of the other major powers, Roosevelt rarely overrode his military advisors.^{[242][page needed]} His civilian appointees handled the draft and procurement of men and equipment, but no civilians – not even the secretaries of War or Navy, had a voice in strategy.^[d]Roosevelt avoided the State Department and conducted high level diplomacy through his aides, especiallyHarry Hopkins. Since Hopkins also controlled $50 billion in Lend Lease funds given to the Allies, they paid attention to him.^{[243][page needed]}

War plans

After Pearl Harbor, antiwar sentiment in the United States evaporated overnight. On December 11, 1941, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States, which responded in kind.^[244] Roosevelt and his military advisers implemented a war strategy with the objectives of halting the German advances in the Soviet Union and in North Africa; launching an invasion of western Europe with the aim of crushing Nazi Germany between two fronts; and saving China and defeating Japan. Public opinion, however, gave priority to the destruction of Japan, so American forces were sent chiefly to the Pacific in 1942.^[245]

In the opening weeks of the war, Japan had conquered the Philippines, and the British and Dutch colonies in Southeast Asia, capturing Singapore in February 1942. Furthermore, Japan cut off the overland supply route to China.

Roosevelt met with Churchill in late December and planned a broad informal alliance among the U.S., Britain, China and the Soviet Union. This included Churchill's initial plan to invade North Africa (called Operation Gymnast) and the primary plan of the U.S. generals for a western Europe invasion, focused directly on Germany (Operation Sledgehammer). An agreement was also reached for a centralized command and offensive in the Pacific theater called ABDA (American, British, Dutch, Australian) to save China and defeat Japan. Nevertheless, the Atlantic First strategy was intact, to Churchill's great satisfaction.^[246] On New Year's Day 1942, Churchill and FDR issued the "Declaration by United Nations", representing 26 countries in opposition to the Tripartite Pact of Germany, Italy and Japan.^[247]

War strategy

Roosevelt and Churchill at theCasablanca Conference(January 1943)

Chiang Kai-shek, Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill at the Cairo Conference (December 1943)

The "Big Three" (Roosevelt, Churchill, and Joseph Stalin), together with Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, cooperated informally on a plan in which American and British troops concentrated in the West; Soviet troops fought on the Eastern front; and Chinese, British and American troops fought in Asia and the Pacific. The Allies formulated strategy in a series of high-profile conferences as well as contact through diplomatic and military channels. Roosevelt guaranteed that the U.S. would be the "Arsenal of Democracy" by shipping $50 billion of Lend Lease supplies, primarily to Britain and to the USSR, China and other Allies.

In October 1942, the President was advised that military resources were desperately needed at Guadalcanal to prevent overrunning by the Japanese. FDR heeded the advice, redirected armaments and the Japanese Pacific offensive was stalled.^[249]

The Allies undertook the invasions of French Morocco and Algeria(Operation Torch) in November 1942. FDR very much desired the assault be initiated before election day, but did not order it. FDR and Churchill had another war conference in Casablanca in January 1943; Stalin declined an invitation. The Allies agreed strategically that the Mediterranean focus be continued, with the cross-channel invasion coming later, followed by concentration of efforts in the Pacific.^[250] Roosevelt also championed General Henri Giraud as leader of Free France against General Charles de Gaulle.^[251] Hitler reinforced his military in North Africa, with the result that the Allied efforts there suffered a temporary setback; Allied attempts to counterbalance this were successful, but resulted in war supplies to the USSR being delayed, as well as the second war front.^[252] Later, their assault pursued into Sicily(Operation Husky) followed in July 1943, and of Italy (Operation Avalanche) in September 1943. In 1943, it was apparent to FDR that Stalin, while bearing the brunt of Germany's offensive, had not had sufficient opportunity to participate in war conferences. The President made a concerted effort to arrange a one-on-one meeting with Stalin, in Fairbanks. However, when Stalin learned that Roosevelt and Churchill had postponed the cross-channel invasion a second time, he cancelled.^[253] The strategic bombing campaignwas escalated in 1944, pulverizing all major German cities and cutting off oil supplies. It was a 50–50 British-American operation. Roosevelt picked Dwight D. Eisenhower, and not George Marshall, to head the Allied cross-channel invasion, Operation Overlord that began on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Some of the most costly battles of the war ensued after the invasion, and the Allies were blocked on the German border in the "Battle of the Bulge" in December 1944. When Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945, Allied forces were closing in on Berlin.

Meanwhile, in the Pacific, the Japanese advance reached its maximum extent by June 1942, when the U.S. Navy scored a decisive victory at the Battle of Midway. American and Australian forces then began a slow and costly progress called island hopping or leapfrogging through the Pacific Islands, with the objective of gaining bases from which strategic airpower could be brought to bear on Japan and from which Japan could ultimately be invaded. In contrast to Hitler, Roosevelt took no direct part in the tactical naval operations, though he approved strategic decisions.^[254] FDR gave way in part to insistent demands from the public and Congress that more effort be devoted against Japan; he always insisted on Germany first.

Post-war planning

Further information: Tehran Conference and Yalta Conference

Churchill, FDR, and Stalin at Yalta, two months before Roosevelt's death

By late 1943, it was apparent that the Allies would ultimately defeat the enemy, so it became increasingly important to make high-level political decisions about the course of the war and the postwar future of Europe. Roosevelt met with Churchill and the Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek at the Cairo Conference in November 1943, and then went to the Tehran Conference to confer with Churchill and Stalin. While Churchill warned of potential domination by a Stalin dictatorship over eastern Europe, Roosevelt responded with a statement summarizing his rationale for relations with Stalin: "I just have a hunch that Stalin is not that kind of a man. ... I think that if I give him everything I possibly can and ask for nothing from him in return, noblesse oblige, he won't try to annex anything and will work with me for a world of democracy and peace."^[255] At the Tehran Conference, Roosevelt and Churchill discussed plans for a postwar international organization. For his part, Stalin insisted on redrawing the frontiers of Poland. Stalin supported Roosevelt's plan for the United Nations and promised to enter the war against Japan 90 days after Germany was defeated.

By the beginning of 1945, however, with the Allied armies advancing into Germany and the Soviets in control of Poland, the postwar issues came into the open. In February, Roosevelt traveled to Yalta, in Crimea, to meet again with Stalin and Churchill. While Roosevelt maintained his confidence that Stalin would keep his Yalta promises regarding free elections in eastern Europe, one month after Yalta ended, Roosevelt's Ambassador to the USSR Averell Harriman cabled Roosevelt that "we must come clearly to realize that the Soviet program is the establishment of totalitarianism, ending personal liberty and democracy as we know it."^[256] Two days later, Roosevelt began to admit that his view of Stalin had been excessively optimistic and that "Averell is right."^[256]

Fourth term and death, 1945

Last days, death and memorial

Roosevelt meets with King Abdul-Aziz of Saudi Arabia on board the USSQuincy at the Great Bitter Lake(February 14, 1945)

Last photograph of Roosevelt (April 11, 1945)

Roosevelt's funeral procession in Washington, D.C., watched by 300,000 spectators (April 14, 1945)

FDR gravesite at Hyde Park

The President left the Yalta Conference on February 12, 1945, flew to Egypt and boarded the USS Quincy operating on the Great Bitter Lake near the Suez Canal. Aboard Quincy, the next day he met with Farouk I, king of Egypt, and Haile Selassie, emperor of Ethiopia. On February 14, he held a historic meeting with King Abdulaziz, the founder of Saudi Arabia, a meeting some historians believe holds profound significance in U.S.-Saudi relations even today.^[268] After a final meeting between Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Quincy steamed for Algiers, arriving February 18, at which time Roosevelt conferred with American ambassadors to Britain, France and Italy.^[269] At Yalta, Lord Moran, Winston Churchill's physician, commenting on Roosevelt's ill health, said that he was a dying man.^[270]

When Roosevelt returned to the United States, he addressed Congress on March 1 about the Yalta Conference,^[271] and many were shocked to see how old, thin and frail he looked. He spoke while seated in the well of the House, an unprecedented concession to his physical incapacity. Roosevelt opened his speech by saying, "I hope that you will pardon me for this unusual posture of sitting down during the presentation of what I want to say, but... it makes it a lot easier for me not to have to carry about ten pounds of steel around on the bottom of my legs." Still in full command mentally, he firmly stated "The Crimean Conference ought to spell the end of a system of unilateral action, the exclusive alliances, the spheres of influence, the balances of power, and all the other expedients that have been tried for centuries– and have always failed. We propose to substitute for all these, a universal organization in which all peace-loving nations will finally have a chance to join."^[272]

During March 1945, he sent strongly worded messages to Stalin accusing him of breaking his Yalta commitments over Poland, Germany, prisoners of war and other issues. When Stalin accused the western Allies of plotting a separate peace with Hitler behind his back, Roosevelt replied: "I cannot avoid a feeling of bitter resentment towards your informers, whoever they are, for such vile misrepresentations of my actions or those of my trusted subordinates."^[273]

On March 29, 1945, Roosevelt went to the Little White House atWarm Springs, Georgia, to rest before his anticipated appearance at the founding conference of the United Nations. On the afternoon of April 12, Roosevelt said, "I have a terrific pain in the back of my head." He then slumped forward in his chair, unconscious, and was carried into his bedroom. The president's attending cardiologist, Dr. Howard Bruenn, diagnosed a massive cerebral hemorrhage(stroke).^[274] At 3:35 p.m. that day, Roosevelt died. As Allen Drury later said, "so ended an era, and so began another." After Roosevelt's death, an editorial by The New York Times declared, "Men will thank God on their knees a hundred years from now that Franklin D. Roosevelt was in the White House".^[275]

At the time he collapsed, Roosevelt had been sitting for a portrait painting by the artist Elizabeth Shoumatoff, known as the famous Unfinished Portrait of FDR.

In his later years at the White House, when Roosevelt was increasingly overworked, his daughter Anna Roosevelt Boettiger had moved in to provide her father companionship and support. Anna had also arranged for her father to meet with his former mistress, the now widowed Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd. Shoumatoff, who maintained close friendships with both Roosevelt and Mercer, rushed Mercer away to avoid negative publicity and implications of infidelity.

On the morning of April 13, Roosevelt's body was placed in a flag-draped coffin and loaded onto the presidential train. After a White House funeral on April 14, Roosevelt was transported back to Hyde Park by train. As was his wish, Roosevelt was buried in the Rose Garden of the Springwood estate, the Roosevelt family home in Hyde Park on April 15. Eleanor, who died in November 1962, was buried next to him.

Roosevelt's death was met with shock and grief^[276] across the US and around the world. His declining health had not been known to the general public.

Less than a month after his death, on May 8, the war in Europe ended. President Harry S. Trumandedicated Victory in Europe Day and its celebrations to Roosevelt's memory, and kept the flags across the U.S. at half-staff for the remainder of the 30-day mourning period, saying that his only wish was "that Franklin D. Roosevelt had lived to witness this day."^[277]

Civil rights

See also: Franklin D. Roosevelt's record on civil rights

Roosevelt was a hero to major minority groups, especially African Americans, Catholics, and Jews, and was highly successful in attracting large majorities of these voters into his New Deal coalition.^[280] He won strong support from Chinese Americans and Filipino Americans, but not Japanese Americans, as he was responsible for their losses due to internship in concentration camps during the war.^[281] Roosevelt's understanding and awareness of problems in the world of the American Indians was questioned during the Hopi Hearings which were held in 1955.

African Americans and Native Americans fared well in two New Deal relief programs, the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Indian Reorganization Act, respectively. Sitkoff reported that the WPA "provided an economic floor for the whole black community in the 1930s, rivaling both agriculture and domestic service as the chief source" of income.^[282]

Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary McLeod Bethune, a member of Roosevelt's Black Cabinet (a key advisory group on race relations).

Another significant change was establishment in 1941 of the Fair Employment Practices Committee, to implement Executive Order 8802 prohibiting racial and religious discrimination in employment among defense contractors. This was the first national program directed against employment discrimination. African Americans who gained defense industry jobs in the 1940s shared in the higher wages; in the 1950s they had gained in relative economic position, about 14% higher than other blacks who were not in such industries. Their moves into manufacturing positions was critical to their success.^[283]

Roosevelt needed the support of the powerful white Southern Democrats for his New Deal programs, and blacks were stilldisenfranchised in the South. He decided against pushing for federal anti-lynching legislation. It was not likely to pass and the political fight might threaten his ability to pass his highest priority programs—though he did denounce lynchings as "a vile form of collective murder".^[284] The frequency of lynchings had declined since the early decades of the century, in part due to the African Americans' Great Migration out of the South; millions were still leaving it behind.

Historian Kevin J. McMahon claims that strides were made for the civil rights of African Americans. In Roosevelt's Justice Department, the Civil Rights Section worked closely with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Roosevelt worked with other civil rights groups on cases dealing with police brutality, lynching, and voting rights abuses.^[285]

Beginning in the 1960s, FDR was charged^{[286][287][288]} with not acting decisively enough to prevent or stopthe Holocaust.^[289] Critics cite instances such as the 1939 episode in which 936 Jewish refugees on the SSSt. Louis were denied asylum and not allowed into the United States because of strict laws passed by Congress.^[290]

The issue of desegregating the armed forces did not arise, but in 1940 Roosevelt appointed former federal judge William H. Hastie, an African American, to be a civilian aide to Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson.^[291]On the home front on June 25, 1941, Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8802, forbidding discrimination on account of "race, creed, color, or national origin" in the hiring of workers in defense related industries.^[292]This was a precursor to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act to come decades later.^[293]

Enemy aliens and people of Japanese ancestry fared badly. On February 19, 1942, Roosevelt issuedExecutive Order 9066 that applied to everyone classified as an "enemy alien", including people who had dual citizenship living in designated high-risk areas that covered most of the cities on the West Coast.^[294]With the U.S. at war with Italy, some 600,000 Italian aliens (citizens of Italy who did not have U.S. citizenship) were subjected to strict travel restrictions; the restrictions were lifted in October 1942.^[295]

Some 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry were forced to leave the West Coast. From 1942 to 1945, they lived in internment camps inland. Those outside the West Coast, and in Hawaii, were not affected.

Criticism of Roosevelt

Main articles: Criticism of Franklin D. Roosevelt and List of critics of the New Deal

During his presidency, and continuing to a lesser extent today, there has been much criticism of Roosevelt, some of it intense. Critics have questioned not only his policies and positions, consolidation of power that occurred due to his responses to the crises of the Depression, and World War, but also his breaking with tradition by running for a third term as president.^[296]

By the middle of his second term, much criticism of Roosevelt centered on fears that he was heading toward a dictatorship, by attempting to seize control of the Supreme Court in the Court-packing incident of 1937, by attempting to eliminate dissent within the Democratic party in the South during the 1938 elections, and by breaking the tradition established by George Washington of not seeking a third term when he again ran for re-election in 1940. As two historians explain, "In 1940, with the two-term issue as a weapon, anti-New Dealers...argued that the time had come to disarm the 'dictator' and to dismantle the machinery."^[297]

As President, Roosevelt was hit from both the right and the left. He came under attack for his supposed anti-business policies, for being a "warmonger", for being a "Fascist" and for being too friendly to Joseph Stalin. Long after his death new lines of attack criticized his policies regarding helping the Jews of Europe,^[298] incarcerating the Japanese on the West Coast,^[299] and opposing anti-lynching legislation.^[300]

Legacy

FDR Memorial in Grosvenor Square, London (1948)

The Four Freedoms engraved on a wall at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, D.C. (1997)

FDR bust at Roosevelt Island, New York (2012)

A majority of polls rank Roosevelt as the second or third greatest president, consistent with other surveys.^{[301][302][303]} Roosevelt is the sixth most admired person from the 20th century by U.S. citizens, according to Gallup.^[304] Roosevelt was also widely beloved for his role in repealing Prohibition.^[153]

The rapid expansion of government programs that occurred during Roosevelt's term redefined the role of the government in the United States, and Roosevelt's advocacy of government social programs was instrumental in redefining liberalism for coming generations.^[305]

Roosevelt firmly established the United States' leadership role on the world stage, with his role in shaping and financing World War II. His isolationist critics faded away, and even the Republicans joined in his overall policies.^[306] After his death, his widow continued to be a forceful presence in US and world politics, serving as delegate to the conference which established the United Nations and championing civil rights and liberalism generally. Many members of his administration played leading roles in the administrations of Truman, Kennedy and Johnson, each of whom embraced Roosevelt's political legacy.^[307]

Reflecting on Roosevelt's presidency, "which brought the United States through the Great Depression and World War II to a prosperous future", said FDR's biographer Jean Edward Smith in 2007, "He lifted himself from a wheelchair to lift the nation from its knees."^[308]

Both during and after his terms, critics of Roosevelt questioned not only his policies and positions, but even more so the consolidation of power in the White House at a time when dictators were taking over Europe and Asia.^[309] Many of the New Deal programs were abolished during the war by FDR's opponents. The powerful new wartime agencies were set up to be temporary and expire at war's end.^[310]

Foreign policy and World War II

• Berthon, Simon; Potts, Joanna (2007). Warlords: An Extraordinary Re-creation of World War II Through the Eyes and Minds of Hitler, Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-81538-9.
• Beschloss, Michael (2002). The Conquerors: Roosevelt, Truman, and the destruction of Hitler's Germany, 1941–1945. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-684-81027-0.
• Burns, James MacGregor (1970). Roosevelt: The Soldier of Freedom. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.ISBN 978-0-15-178871-2.
• Caputi, Robert (2000). Neville Chamberlain and Appeasement. Associated University Press.
• Churchill, Winston (1977). The Grand Alliance. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 0-395-41057-6.
• Cole, Wayne S (Mar 1957), "American Entry into World War II: A Historiographical Appraisal", The Mississippi Valley Historical Review (JStor) 43 (4): 595–617, doi:10.2307/1902275, JSTOR 1902275.
• Dallek, Robert (1995). Franklin D. Roosevelt and American Foreign Policy, 1932–1945. Oxford University.ISBN 0-19-509732-7.
• Glantz, Mary E (2005), FDR and the Soviet Union: The President's Battles over Foreign Policy, U. Press of Kansas, ISBN 978-0-7006-1365-6, 253 pp.
• Hamilton, Nigel. The Mantle of Command: FDR at War, 1941–1942 (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014) 514 pp.
• Heinrichs, Waldo (1988), Threshold of War. Franklin Delano Roosevelt and American Entry into World War II,ISBN 978-0-19-504424-9.
• Kaiser, David. No End Save Victory: How FDR Led the Nation into War (2014) excerpt and text search
• Kimball, Warren (1991), The Juggler: Franklin Roosevelt as World Statesman, ISBN 978-0-691-04787-4.
• Langer, William; Gleason, S Everett (1952), The Challenge to Isolation, 1937–1940, OCLC 1448535. The Undeclared War, 1940–1941 (1953) OCLC 404227. highly detailed and influential two-volume semi-official history
• Mayers, David. FDR's Ambassadors and the Diplomacy of Crisis: From the Rise of Hitler to the End of World War II (2013)
• Larrabee, Eric, Commander in Chief: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, His Lieutenants, and Their War, ISBN 978-0-06-039050-1. Detailed history of how FDR handled the war.
• Reynolds, David (2006), From World War to Cold War: Churchill, Roosevelt, and the International History of the 1940s, ISBN 978-0-19-928411-5
• Sainsbury, Keith (1994). Churchill and Roosevelt at War: The War They Fought and the Peace They Hoped to Make. New York University Press. ISBN 0-8147-7991-3.
• Sherwood, Robert E (1949) [1950], Roosevelt and Hopkins: an Intimate History, Pulitzer Prize.
• Watt, D.C. (1989), How War Came The Immediate Origins of the Second World War, New York: Pantheon Books.
• Weinberg, Gerhard L (1994), A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II, ISBN 978-0-521-44317-3. Overall history of the war; strong on diplomacy of FDR and other main leaders.
• Woods, Randall Bennett (1990), A Changing of the Guard: Anglo-American Relations, 1941–1946, ISBN 978-0-8078-1877-0.