Without the American entry into World War II, it’s possible Japan would have consolidated its position of supremacy in East Asia and that the war in Europe could have dragged on for far longer than it did. There was no evidence of the Japanese moving toward Pearl Harbor that was picked up in Washington.”

13, 1942. In his memo, Stalin, whose beleaguered Russian armies had been contending with a German invasion for more than a year, sought to impress upon the Americans and the British the necessity of relieving the pressure on Russia’s western front. …

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Vice President Henry A. Wallace won the election of 1940, and were at the helm of the nation as it prepared for and entered World War II.

The Allies of World War II were a group of countries that together opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War (1939–1945). The United States provided war materiel and money to the Allies all along, and officially joined in December 1941 after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

President Franklin D. 5, 1940, FDR began preparing for military involvement by declaring a state of national emergency, increasing the size of the Army and National Guard, and authorizing the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 — the first peacetime draft in US history.

What good are America’s allies? In most parts of Washington, U.S. treaty allies—including the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Japan, South Korea, and Australia—are treated as cornerstones of America’s global position. Polls suggest that most Americans agree.

On December 7, 1941, following the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, the United States declared war on Japan. Three days later, after Germany and Italy declared war on it, the United States became fully engaged in the Second World War.