Key Figures, Events, and Policies of WWII and U.S. Foreign Policy

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

FDR led the U.S. through the Great Depression and WWII, expanded federal power through the New Deal, and shifted America from isolationism to interventionism.

Wendell Willkie

Republican candidate in 1940 whose support for aiding Britain reflected America's move away from strict isolationism.

Charles Lindbergh

Aviator and leader of America First who symbolized strong isolationist sentiment before WWII.

Jeannette Rankin

First woman in Congress who voted against WWII, representing pacifist resistance to war.

Winston Churchill

British Prime Minister who partnered with FDR to guide Allied strategy and postwar planning.

Douglas MacArthur

U.S. general who led Pacific forces and accepted Japan's surrender.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Allied Commander who organized D-Day and coordinated the European war effort.

Albert Einstein

Physicist whose warning about German atomic research helped spark the Manhattan Project.

Harry S. Truman

President who ordered the atomic bombings and directed early Cold War policy.

J. Robert Oppenheimer

Scientific leader of the Manhattan Project who developed the atomic bomb.

A. Philip Randolph

Labor leader whose threatened march forced FDR to ban discrimination in defense jobs.

Pierre DuPont

Industrialist whose company produced major wartime materials supporting U.S. mobilization.

Henry Ford

Automaker whose factories mass-produced military vehicles and aircraft.

William Knudsen

Auto executive who helped coordinate U.S. wartime industrial production.

William Boeing

Aviation manufacturer whose planes strengthened Allied air power.

Stalin

Soviet dictator whose Eastern Front victories were crucial to defeating Nazi Germany.

Mussolini

Fascist Italian dictator whose expansion and alliance with Hitler helped trigger WWII.

Hitler

Nazi leader whose aggression and racial ideology caused WWII and the Holocaust.

Pearl Harbor

Japan's 1941 attack that brought the U.S. directly into WWII.

Battle of Britain

1940 air battle where Britain stopped German bombing, preventing Nazi control of Western Europe.

Stalingrad

Soviet victory that halted Hitler's invasion and became the turning point of the European war.

London Economic Conference (1933)

Failed global meeting that showed U.S. isolationism when FDR refused cooperation.

Second Great Migration

Mass movement of African Americans that reshaped U.S. cities and helped advance civil rights.

D-Day

Allied invasion of Normandy that opened a Western front and accelerated Germany's defeat.

Manhattan Project

Secret U.S. atomic bomb program that ended the war and started the nuclear age.

Tehran Conference

1943 Allied meeting that planned D-Day and strengthened cooperation.

Yalta Conference

1945 meeting that shaped postwar Europe and contributed to Cold War tensions.

Potsdam Conference

Conference that set occupation terms for Germany and demanded Japan's surrender.

Zoot Suit Riots

Racial violence in Los Angeles showing wartime discrimination against Mexican Americans.

Holocaust

Nazi genocide of Jews and others that reshaped global human rights awareness.

Hitler-Stalin Pact

1939 non-aggression pact that allowed Germany to invade Poland, starting WWII.

Dunkirk

Evacuation that saved the British army and allowed continued resistance against Germany.

Dr. Seuss Cartoons

Political cartoons criticizing isolationism and promoting action against fascism.

Quarantine Speech

FDR's call to isolate aggressor nations, signaling a move away from neutrality.

Appropriations for National Defense Speech

FDR's argument for increased military spending as war approached.

Good Neighbor Speech

FDR's promise of non-intervention in Latin America to strengthen hemispheric cooperation.

Dr. Win the War Speech

Shift from New Deal reform to prioritizing victory in WWII.

America First Speech

Lindbergh's argument defending isolationism and opposing involvement in European war.

Kellogg-Briand Pact

Agreement renouncing war that reflected interwar idealism.

Smith Act (1940)

Law banning advocacy of overthrowing the government, later used during the Red Scare.

Atlantic Charter

FDR and Churchill's statement of war goals and postwar principles.

H.R. 1776

Resolution supporting aid to Britain, showing growing interventionism.

Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act

Lowered tariffs to improve world trade and diplomacy.

Neutrality Acts (1935-37)

Laws designed to keep the U.S. out of foreign wars by limiting involvement.

Neutrality Act of 1939 (Cash and Carry)

Allowed Allies to buy arms if they paid cash, marking a shift toward aiding Britain.

Selective Training and Service Act (1940)

First peacetime draft preparing the U.S. for war.

War Powers Act (1941)

Expanded presidential authority to direct the war effort.

Military Industrial Complex

Permanent arms industry that grew during WWII and shaped postwar policy.

War Production Board

Agency that coordinated massive wartime industrial output.

Lend-Lease Act

Allowed the U.S. to supply weapons to Allies, ending neutrality.

Smith-Connally Anti-Strike Act

Gave the government power to seize industries during labor disputes.

National War Labor Board

Mediated labor issues to maintain wartime production.

Executive Order 9066

Authorized Japanese American internment.

Executive Order 8802

Banned discrimination in defense industries.

Office of War Information

Controlled wartime propaganda and boosted morale.

GI Bill

Provided education and benefits to veterans, transforming postwar society.

3 I's

Foreign policy themes of isolationism, interventionism, and internationalism that shifted during WWII.

Good Neighbor Policy

FDR's approach of non-intervention in Latin America to build wartime unity.

Appeasement (Munich Accord)

Giving concessions to Hitler, which encouraged further aggression.

Four Freedoms

FDR's vision of essential rights used to justify supporting the Allies.

ABC-1 Agreement

U.S.-Britain plan to defeat Germany first.

Bracero Program

Wartime labor program bringing Mexican workers to the U.S.

Double V Campaign

African American push for victory abroad and civil rights at home.

Victory Plan

Early U.S. blueprint for massive wartime mobilization.

Rainbow 5

Military plan predicting a German threat and shaping prewar preparations.

Keynesian Economics

Idea that government spending stimulates the economy, reflected in wartime spending.

Allies

The alliance of the U.S., Britain, and USSR that coordinated to defeat the Axis powers.

Nye Committee

Senate investigation blaming arms makers for WWI, strengthening isolationism.

America First Committee

Group opposing U.S. entry into WWII until Pearl Harbor.

Women (Rosie, WACs, WAVES, WASP)

Female workers and service members who filled wartime roles and expanded gender expectations.

Jewish Refugees

People fleeing Nazi persecution whose limited acceptance revealed U.S. immigration restrictions.

Native American Code Talkers

Navajo Marines whose unbreakable codes helped win the Pacific War.

Mexicans - LULAC

Civil rights group combating discrimination during the wartime era.

African Americans - Tuskegee Airmen, CORE

Black pilots and activists whose service challenged segregation.

Japanese Americans - 442nd RCT

Highly decorated unit of Japanese American soldiers serving despite internment.

Korematsu v. U.S. (1944)

Supreme Court case that upheld Japanese internment as constitutional during wartime.