The air force was just as bad if not worse. In September 1939 the Air Corps had only 800 combat aircrafts again compared with Germany's 3600 and Russia's 10,000 . American military Aviation (AMA) in 1938 was able to produce only 1800, 300 less than Germany, and 1400 less than Japan. Major Eisenhower, who was later Supreme commander of the Allied forces in World War II, complained that America was left with only a shell of military establishment. As was evident to Roosevelt the United States military was in no way prepared to enter this European crisis.
Another aspect that must be considered is the people's views and thoughts regarding the United States going to war. After all do not forget that the American government is there "for the people and by the people" and therefore the people's view did play a major role in this declaration of Neutrality. Roosevelt said "We shun political commitments which might entangle us in foreign wars. If we face the choice of profits or peace-this nation must answer, the nation will answer 'we choose peace' ", which they did. A poll taken in 1939 revealed that ninety-four per cent of the citizens did not want the United States to enter the war. The shock of World War I had still not left, and entering a new war, they felt, would be foolish. In the early stages of the war American Ambassador to London was quoted saying "It's the end of the world, the end of everything". As Richard Overy notes in The Road To War, this growing division from Europe was not mere selfishness. They were the values expressed by secretary of state, Cordel Hull: "a primary interest in peace with justice, in economic well-being with stability, and conditions of order under the law". These were principles here on which most Americans (ninety-four percent as of 1939) agreed. To promote these principles the United States would have to avoid all "foreign entanglements", or as Overy puts it "any kind of alliance or association outside the western hemisphere".
