No Ordinary Time

The Outbreak of War and American Unpreparedness

Franklin Roosevelt often ended his high-tension days with a mental ritual to help him sleep. He would close his eyes and imagine himself as a young boy sledding down a steep snowy hill at his family home in Hyde Park. This repetitive memory allowed him to mentally escape the reality of his paralyzed legs, which had been immobile since he contracted polio at age thirty-nine. On the night of May 9, 1940, this ritual was particularly necessary after a late-night phone call confirmed that Adolf Hitler’s armies had begun a massive invasion of Western Europe. The president’s physical condition was a central fact of his leadership, transforming him into a man of great humility and deep empathy. His struggle to perform the simplest physical tasks gave him a profound connection to the underprivileged, which became a cornerstone of his presidency.

As the Nazi military moved across Europe, the United States remained woefully unprepared for war. The American army ranked only eighteenth in the world, trailing even small nations like Switzerland and Portugal. This lack of readiness was the result of a strong isolationist sentiment in Congress and a decade of national focus on the Great Depression. Roosevelt faced the daunting task of shifting public opinion and mobilizing a civilian economy that had lost the ability to manufacture weapons. His leadership style was often characterized by a deliberate disorderliness, frequently giving overlapping responsibilities to different subordinates to encourage competition. This approach often led to internal friction, but it allowed Roosevelt to maintain ultimate control over the flow of information.

While the president managed the military and diplomatic crisis from the Oval Office, Eleanor Roosevelt acted as his primary observer across the country. Her own path to independent power began years earlier following the discovery of her husband’s affair with Lucy Mercer. This betrayal shattered her world but ultimately freed her from the traditional role of a political wife, allowing her to forge a distinct identity as a social activist. She traveled tens of thousands of miles to inspect mines, slums, and migrant camps, bringing back the human details that the president could never see for himself. Her reports on the suffering of the poor directly influenced government policies, creating a partnership where her moral urgency balanced his political pragmatism.

The Roosevelt White House functioned as a complex web of personal and professional relationships. Living on the third floor was Marguerite LeHand, the president’s personal secretary, who provided the relaxed companionship and emotional support that the more formal Eleanor could not. Also joining the inner circle during the crisis was Harry Hopkins, a brilliant but gravely ill advisor who moved into the White House for a single night and ended up staying for three and a half years. These individuals formed an unconventional official family that supported the president through the late-night strategy sessions required to navigate the onset of global war.

To bridge the gap between American reality and the Nazi threat, Roosevelt delivered a bold vision to Congress. He provided a detailed explanation of how modern air travel had erased the natural protection once offered by the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. He then called for a staggering production goal of fifty thousand planes a year, a number designed to force military and industrial leaders to think on a massive scale. While the public rallied, political opposition quickly resurfaced from high-profile figures like Charles Lindbergh, who accused the administration of creating unnecessary public panic. Despite this friction, Congress authorized massive new appropriations for the army and navy, including funds for tanks, planes, and pilot training.

To turn his production goals into reality, Roosevelt knew he had to end his long-standing feud with the business community. He created a defense advisory board that paired powerful millionaires with staunch government reformers, hoping to harness corporate expertise while protecting social reforms. Roosevelt used his radio broadcasts to explain this new partnership to the American people in simple, conversational language. He assured citizens that the government would provide the funding necessary for businesses to expand their factories without risk. He remained optimistically certain that the American people could achieve the impossible and transform their nation into a global supplier of weapons.