The Lend-Lease Act: Main Idea
The Lend-Lease Act: Main Idea
Deal With It
The Lend-Lease Act was passed because Congress finally came to a majority consensus that President Roosevelt needed the power to send material support to the United Kingdom and other allies fighting against the Axis powers…without the restrictions of the Neutrality Acts of the 1930s.
In that time of world war and brutal, militant ideologies spreading destruction and suffering around the globe, the President was given a lot of power. America's entry into WWII had begun.
Questions
- What might have happened differently if the Lend-Lease Act wasn't passed…or was somehow delayed? How much of a difference did the material support America sent to its allies make in their resistance and eventual defeat of the German, Italian, and Japanese forces?
- Why do humans put so much power in the hands of individuals? Is "good" executive power the only way to fight the "bad" executive power of tyrants? Is a single leader a necessary part of human social organization (for instance, an effective military)?
- Could Hitler have been more universally resisted in the years preceding WWII? What else could have been done?
- What's the criteria for going to war? What is the line that, once crossed, must be met with complete physical, material, and military resistance from an entire country?
Chew On This
Without the successful passage of the Lend-Lease Act, Britain and the Soviet Union would have eventually lost the war to Nazi Germany.
In hindsight, the Lend-Lease Act should have been enacted much earlier.
Quotes
Quote #1
Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, the President may, from time to time. when he deems it in the interest of national defense, authorize the Secretary Of War, the Secretary of the Navy, or the head of any other department or agency of the Government [...] (3.a)
This particular bit really sums up the amount of power being granted to the President by this law. Although it immediately provides that, regardless of what previously passed laws say, the President now has the authority to direct a whole bunch of things to be done.
This list of things basically amounts to giving any country whatever they need to defend themselves and wage the world war, whether that's material goods or designs and intelligence. By giving FDR this much executive power, Congress put the United States on a definite war footing, allowing American allies access to the burgeoning wartime industrial economy before the United States formally entered the war.
Quote #2
(2) To sell, transfer title to, exchange, lease, lend, or otherwise dispose of, to any such government any defense article, but no defense article not manufactured or procured under paragraph (1) shall in any way be disposed of under this paragraph, except after consultation with the Chief of Staff of the Army or the Chief of Naval Operations of the Navy, or both. The value of defense articles disposed of in any way under authority of this paragraph, and procured from funds heretofore appropriated, shall not exceed $1,300,000,000. (3.a.2)
These two sentences might seem to limit the President's power a tad by requiring him to consult with others before making a decision, but let's be real: this law gave FDR carte blanche to do whatever he thought was best. In practice, he probably consulted with many people and delegated his authority to others so he didn't get bogged down in too many details.
Also note that $1.3 billion was worth a whole lot more back then. But by the end of the war, about $50.1 billion worth of supplies was provided to allies. (Source)
That was big money in those days.
Quote #3
(b) The terms and conditions upon which any such foreign government receives any aid authorized under subsection (a) shall be those which the President deems satisfactory, and the benefit to the United States may he payment or repayment in kind or property, or any other direct or indirect benefit which the President deems satisfactory. (3.b)
This section shows just how much power FDR was being given with the Lend-Lease Act. Instead of putting a clause in there saying everything had to be strictly paid for in a certain way, Congress basically just told FDR, "Hey man, whatever you think is fair. We don't have time for extended negotiations."
Quote #4
(d) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to authorize or to permit the authorization of convoying vessels by naval vessels of the United States.
(e) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to authorize or to permit the authorization of the entry of any American vessel into a combat area in violation of section 3 of the neutrality Act of 1939. (5.d-e)
Key to the passage of the Lend-Lease Act were these provisions maintaining a technical sense of neutrality. Of course, the Axis powers didn't see the Lend-Lease Act as neutral, and neither did the recipients of the aid. But these subsections allowed more Congress-peeps to sign on, whether because they convinced themselves the U.S. could still be neutral, or felt they could convince their isolationist constituents.
Didn't really matter much; nine months later the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and the United States formally entered the war. You can bet there was a whole lot of convoying and combat-area entering going on after that.
Quote #5
SEC. 8. The Secretaries of War and of the Navy are hereby authorized to purchase or otherwise acquire arms, ammunition, and implements of war produced within the jurisdiction of any country to which section 3 is applicable, whenever the President deems such purchase or acquisition to be necessary in the interests of the defense of the United States. (8)
The funny bit here is "otherwise acquire," which can let the imagination run wild, but really mostly allowed unhampered exchange of allies' weaponry for American goods. It was a way for the United States military to open up all possible methods of trade, along the lines of letting the President to decide unilaterally what would be a fair deal.