> >Some of same folks making this assertion were
> >willing to consider tolerating continental Europe controlled by Nazis as
> >more than one US leader considered Hitler useful check against Soviets
> >(some admired Hitler).
>
> Not Roosevelt--who is the guy we are talking about.
>
> >As for what Japan wanted from US in late 1940 in exchange for abandoning
> >China objectives, resumption of regular trade relations that US formally
> >halted when it refused to negotiate renewal of 1911 trade treaty between
> >two countries. Upon treaty end FDR administration began to impose
> >commercial/economic restrictions.
>
> Hence the Japanese responded by attacking China? This makes no sense at
> all...
> Brad DeLong
Great Man theory of history is so much claptrap, *I've* been 'talking' about good bit more than FDR, as Gang of Four notes: "It's not made by great men"...
However, re. Roosevelt, his antipathy for Hitler didn't prevent him from playing important role in 1938 British/French 'appeasement' at Munich...
As for question about Japanese attacking China, *it* is what makes no sense, chronology is incorrect, former was looking for way to extricate itself from bog it was in several years into occupation of latter...
> FDR (and Churchill) understood very well that their
> countries were threatened by Germany and that this nation would become
> invincible if Hitler was able to defeat the USSR. At the same time, the
> prospects of a great Japanese empire in Asia were intolerable to USA, since
> it would close the Pacific commerce to USA. So those countries entered the
> war to defend their own interests. As a colateral effect, they saved the
> world from fascism (the USSR also did it, by the way),
> Alexandre
Lest anyone forget that German & Japanese economic presence in Latin America was increasing at that time as well. Hull/Roosevelt framework defined as dangerous any challenges to US imperial expansion/territorialism (as did post-WW2 Cold Warriors re. alien 'marxist-leninist' governments in western hemisphere). What William Appelman Williams called the 'war for the American frontier' has been lengthy one indeed...
Re. German threat, evidence indicates that at time of Munich appeasement (for which Roosevelt has remained generally unscathed), Britain and France had more tanks & war planes than Germany...
In any event, US would likely have entered European war with or without Hull's inflexibility re. Asia given post-Munich developments... Michael Hoover