Pearl Harbor as a part of the ever-dreadful World War Two is what I believe to be the theme of the 1940's. World War Two is the largest war to be fought by America to this date. This decade revolved solely around warfare. Franklin D. Roosevelt took his third and fourth term as President in this era. After the massive attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, the Japanese were put in concentration camps due to the threat of spies. The war allowed the economy to soar bringing many jobs and helping America recover from the Great Depression. Many soldiers died throughout the war and World War Two has had an everlasting impression on our society. December 7, 1941 will have the most memorable affect on America throughout the decade as Japan bombed our naval base on an island in Hawaii and took us knee deep in the world's largest international war.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt became our President in 1932 and the expectations of America soared as we were going through a state of great depression. The President was quick to act as he passed new anti-depression bills left and right in his fight to help America's economy. He came up with work projects to help the unemployed and laid the basis for our social security program. F.D.R. would go on to serve another three terms as president. This third term came in 1940 as World War Two was getting hot and heavy. " In accepting the nomination for that year Roosevelt broke with tradition; never before had a President run for a third term. Some of his former associates were vocal in criticism" (Patterson 5). Roosevelt still had strong opposition of America joining the war against the Axis powers. The United States gave great aid to that of the Allied powers and continued in negotiations with Japan. Though on December 7, 1941 it was seen that Japan had no intentions of negotiating with us. On this day, Japan bombed our naval base Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.