America First by H.W. Brands
H.W. Brands’s new book, America First: Roosevelt vs. Lindbergh in the Shadow of War, is essential reading as it sheds a new light on the isolationist vs. interventionist battle.
H.W. Brands’s new book, America First: Roosevelt vs. Lindbergh in the Shadow of War, is essential reading as it sheds a new light on the isolationist vs. interventionist battle.
As soon as I first heard the convicted felon campaigning with the America First motto, I knew he was bad news. I’ve long associated the phrase with the group of Americans who were either pro-Nazi or just indifferent to the situation in Europe. Watching The U.S. and The Holocaust sheds an in-depth look in documentary form but what we have here is a book that pits President Franklin Delano Roosevelt against the popular aviator Charles Lindbergh. I refuse to refer to Lindbergh as a hero because he stopped being a hero the moment he started campaigning for isolationism.
I’m an American history buff so this book piqued my interest from the moment I heard about it. I’d read The First American (I’m due for a re-read) and Reagan many years ago so, of course, I was familiar with Brands as a historian and author. As I write this, I’m making my way through Heirs of the Founders.
My thoughts on FDR are no different after reading the book than they are before going into it. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill wanted America to enter the war and if the US couldn’t do that, at least send over some ships and weapons. You could say that FDR was between a rock and a hard place, especially with the Neutrality Act of 1935. There were four such acts passed by Congress between 1935-1939. FDR delivered his Quarantine Speech in October 1937, in hopes of moving America away from neutrality.
FDR got his way with Congress when they passed the Neutrality Act of 1939. This time, previous acts were rescinded and America could send arms to both Great Britain and France. Nobody could have foreseen how quickly France would fall to the Nazis. In any event, the acts officially became moot when America entered the war following the attack on Pearl Harbor.
I thought I knew a fair deal about America’s involvement in the war but it turns out that there is always more to learn. FDR wanted to turn the tide in American public opinion but accomplishing this task was easier said than done. Enter the British with their disinformation efforts—that’s right. At the request of the British Secret Intelligence Service, British intelligence officer William Stephenson traveled to America in 1940 to establish a working relationship with FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. Hoover was cordial in the meeting but “explained that orders from the State Department prevented him from working with the British in any way that might compromise American neutrality.”
FDR was more enthusiastic about the matter when a mutual friend reached out to him. The State Department had no idea about it. Much of British history surrounding the matter had been highly confidential for decades, only being published in 1998.
An intelligence operation was set up in New York with Stephenson and his men assigned “to investigate enemy activities, to institute adequate security measures against the threat of sabotage to British property, and to organize American public opinion in favour of aid to Britain.”
None of this would have happened without the FBI assisting Stephenson. Hoover set up a secure radio so Stephenson could have contact with London. But even more importantly, he kept Stephenson’s activities a secret from the State Department and other agencies. William Donovan served in an informal capacity as an FDR’s envoy to Churchill and would work with Stephenson. That’s why he became such a favorite of the British, publishing articles on German fifth-column activities as such.
There were others, too, such as playwright/speechwriter Robert Sherwood. An informant worked as the personal assistant of Scripps-Howard’s Roy Howard. There was an effort to blackmail the Hearst news syndicate. But most importantly, Stephenson’s office developed contacts at newspapers that were key to turning the tide. Another key connection was with JTA’s Overseas News Agency, as it was called during the war years to evade Nazi detection. The British government—through the British Security Coordination as the operation was known in London—became an underwriter of the agency! Who knows how many articles were written by Stephenson’s men.
As for Lindbergh, I loathe him even more after reading the book. After all, how can I have any respect for a man who said the following in September 1941:
“The three most important groups who have been pressing this country toward war are the British, the Jewish and the Roosevelt administration,” he said. “Behind these groups, but of lesser importance, are a number of capitalists, Anglophiles, and intellectuals who believe that the future of mankind depends upon the domination of the British empire. Add to these the Communistic groups who were opposed to intervention until a few weeks ago, and I believe I have named the major war agitators in this country.”
The Communists were anti-Nazi before the Hitler-Stalin Pact and thus they became pro-Nazi. After Hitler broke the pact, they became anti-Nazi again. How did Lindbergh feel about the Jews? Oh boy.
“It is not difficult to understand why Jewish people desire the overthrow of Nazi Germany. The persecution they suffered in Germany would be sufficient to make bitter enemies of any race. No person with a sense of the dignity of mankind can condone the persecution of the Jewish race in Germany.”
Lindbergh knew what was happening to Jews in Germany and goes onto condone it. While that’s all good, it gets worse almost immediately. Brands leaves out the “but” in the next sentence but I’m including it.
“But no person of honesty and vision can look on their pro-war policy here today without seeing the dangers involved in such a policy both for us and for them. Instead of agitating for war, the Jewish groups in this country should be opposing it in every possible way for they will be among the first to feel its consequences.”
I’m sorry, what?!? By this point, Jews were being murdered by the thousands and while the extent of the numbers weren’t known in the US, no Jew in the right mind would have opposed intervention as Lindbergh suggests. Jews were already feeling the consequences by the mere antisemitism coming out of Lindbergh’s mouth, let alone the fact that he—like the antisemites before him—is othering Jews in his speech. But as Brands notes, both bankers and arms-makers were vilified after the previous war.
“Tolerance is a virtue that depends upon peace and strength. History shows that it cannot survive war and devastations. A few far-sighted Jewish people realize this and stand opposed to intervention. But the majority still do not.”
That’s because the majority of American Jewry had FAMILY in Europe! And when you think it couldn’t possibly get bad enough, he went there:
“Their greatest danger to this country lies in their large ownership and influence in our motion pictures, our press, our radio and our government.“
It is true that Jews owned the majority of Hollywood studios. I can’t say the same for newspapers, radio, and government without doing further research. But in short, Lindbergh went with the antisemitic “Jews control the media” trope.
His speech was panned all across the board. Many newspapers ran pieces labeling him an antisemite and rightfully so. How could you listen to such a speech and not take away the fact that he’s an antisemite. Even in reading excerpts of his diaries throughout the book, I couldn’t help but give him the side eye for his opinions about Jews.
At one point, Lindbergh suggested that America should negotiate a peace with Hitler. Any universe in which America signs a peace treaty with Hitler is one that ends up with even more Jews dead. Who is to say that Hitler wouldn’t come after America’s Jews? It just makes me want to scream.
There’s so much to take away from America First: Roosevelt vs. Lindbergh in the Shadows of War. America has cultivated so many allies through the years. America’s place on the world’s stage wouldn’t have happened without FDR doing what he did. All of this could be undone if the isolationists have their way—the convicted felon would prefer to ally himself with Russia than with European democracies. That’s not an American value! In light of where things stand right now, America First: Roosevelt vs. Lindbergh in the Shadows of War couldn’t be more essential with what H.W. Brands brings to the table.