FDR's Use of Charisma During Term Paper

While FDR's leadership and guidance saved many American lives, he also destroyed many lives of American citizens, simply because of their ethnic origin.

However, without FDR's independence and firm guidance, which motivated America to support providing aid to England during the bombing of Britain, it is very likely that World War II would have turned against the European Allies. The congress was intent upon keeping America out of another world war, and the Lend-Lease program was the only way to prevent the balance of power from going against England. Jenkins demonstrates that it is highly unlikely that FDR 'knew' and permitted the Japanese to bomb Pearl Harbor, but he stresses that long before much of the nation and the congress were aware of Hitler's danger to America's interests, Roosevelt made a commitment to making America an international partner in the fight for freedom and justice abroad.Thus, Roosevelt occasionally used his positive relationship with the American people to circumvent the checks and balances of legal authority of the Constitution, particularly during extreme national conditions of stress. He undercut the legal system, although not to the degree he wished to, although he bolstered the value of democracy in a broader sense. He made such choices partly out of self-interest, but also because of the extremity of the historical circumstances he presided over, and the fact that his charisma gave him a popular mandate that made them willing to sacrifice, ration, and risk their lives for America's future. Roosevelt dared many things that a less popular president could not have gotten away with, and succeeded because of his own ability and the historical circumstances of the period.

Works Cited

Jenkins, Roy. Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The American President's Series. New York:

Times Books, 2004......