Transmigrated as the Crown Prince

Although Unionist Wendell Willkie was now a strong competitor to Roosevelt, he had always supported the Democratic Party before.

He was born into a lawyer family in Indiana. His father was a staunch Dissident Party member. When Wilkie was four years old, he took him to participate in the Dissipation Party campaign. When he was in college, he wrote to Woodrow Wilson (the 28th President of the United States) to express his admiration.

It was not until 1933 that President Roosevelt proposed the establishment of the Tennessee Valley Authority to coordinate the planning, development and maintenance of the Tennessee River Basin, and to provide cheap electricity to backward rural areas. This move will greatly harm the interests of private power companies in the region, thus triggering a fierce backlash.

Wilkie was even more furious. You must know that he started working for Federal and Southern Electric Power Company in 2029 and gradually rose to the position of chairman. Under his leadership, 19 power companies jointly sued the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Wilkie blasted the Tennessee Valley Authority, calling it "the most useless and unnecessary bric-a-brac." The case became a sensation and attracted attention from all over the United States, but the trial process had twists and turns. It was not until 1939 that the Supreme Court made a final decision, confirming the legality of the Valley Authority and ruling that private power companies had no right to complain about the government's participation in market competition.

Although Wilkie lost the case, his talent and support for enterprises won the support of the business community and the media. Wall Street tycoons admired him very much, and Walter Lippmann (American news critic and writer. One of the most influential scholars in the history of communication, enjoying a high reputation in propaganda analysis and public opinion research) praised him as the most enlightened entrepreneur, Fortune magazine published an exclusive interview with him, and both Life and Time Magazine chose him as a cover story. Wilkie suddenly became the center of attention.

Wilkie believed that the Democratic Party under Roosevelt had deviated from its traditional political line and became increasingly anti-business. In the end, he decided to leave the Disai Party and join the Gonghe Party election as a dark horse.

Faced with this sudden dark horse, Roosevelt had to be more cautious in his words and deeds in preparation for the election; once he expressed his intention to aid Britain, it would definitely give those isolationists an opportunity to attack him.

As early as January 28, 1938, Roosevelt sent a message to Congress asking for an allocation of US$1 billion to expand naval armaments. He proposed that the United States must prepare for two-ocean operations and establish a navy of two-ocean standards, that is, to establish a naval force equal to that of Germany, Italy, and Japan. The sum of the two ocean fleets. The isolationists strongly opposed it, suspecting that Roosevelt wanted to unite with Britain to play the game of "European power politics."

In January 1939, a new American bomber crashed during a test flight near Los Angeles. The body of a French lieutenant pilot was found in the wreckage. He came to learn about the new American weapons.

This unexpected incident revealed the inside story of Britain and France purchasing weapons and equipment from the United States, causing an uproar among the isolationists. The Senate Armed Services Committee decided to hold a hearing and called the isolationist Secretary of War Harry Woodring to testify before Congress. He gave testimony that was unfavorable to Morgenthau, the Treasury Secretary and Roosevelt's confidant who had presided over the arms negotiations with France.

Isolationists accused Roosevelt of violating the spirit of the Neutrality Act, pursuing "his own private diplomacy," deviating from the clear principles set by Washington, and causing the United States to "fall into the trap of the Europeans." In order to calm the noise of the isolationists, Roosevelt invited some senators to the White House for long private talks. A senator told a reporter that Roosevelt once said that "the frontier of the United States is on the Rhine River." The isolationists were furious again. Roosevelt was also furious and denounced the news as "absolutely ridiculous" and a fabrication by some "idiots."

Not only were these covetous isolationists, but the Neutrality Act, which was clearly stipulated in the law, also restricted Roosevelt from funding Britain.

In 1935, on the eve of Italy's invasion of Ethiopia, the isolationists inside and outside the U.S. Congress took advantage of the American people's unwillingness to get involved in a new war and pushed Congress to pass the first "Neutrality Act" on August 31. Act", which stipulates that "in the event of war between two or more foreign countries or in the course of a war, and the President declares the same, there will be no subsequent transfer of arms, ammunition and military equipment from any place in the United States or its possessions to the ports of the belligerent countries. , or exporting to a neutral country for transshipment to a belligerent country shall be illegal.” It also prohibits U.S. ships from carrying military supplies to belligerent countries and U.S. citizens traveling on ships of belligerent countries, but does not prohibit the export of other materials, including strategic materials.

When the law expired at the end of February 1936, Congress immediately passed the second Neutrality Act, extending the validity period of the first Neutrality Act to May 1, 1937, and added a clause prohibiting loans to belligerent countries.

On April 29, 1937, Congress passed the third Neutrality Act. In addition to the contents stipulated in the first two laws, it also stipulated that the Neutrality Act applies to countries where civil war occurs, authorizing the president to determine whether a state of war exists, not only The right to prohibit the export of weapons to belligerent countries, and to prohibit the export of any goods to belligerent countries.

Before and after the outbreak of the European War in 1939, President Roosevelt determined that the United States' defense line was in Europe and repeatedly proposed to Congress to amend the Neutrality Act. However, Congress is still debating this proposal so far and has not passed it; therefore, Roosevelt was powerless to help Britain.

Churchill also knew these situations, but he still asked Roosevelt for help again and again.

"The situation has deteriorated rapidly. The enemy is clearly superior in the air, and their new technology is making a deep impression on the minds of the French. I personally believe that the ground war has only just begun, and I would like to see the masses join in the war. Until So far, the German army is still fighting with special tank units and air forces. Those small countries are simply smashed one by one like matchsticks. We expect that in the near future, we will be attacked by air attacks here as well as paratroopers and airlift troops "We are prepared for this and will continue to fight alone if necessary. We are not afraid of fighting alone."

"But, Mr. President, I believe you will realize that if the voice and power of the United States are suppressed for too long, it may not have much effect. A Europe completely conquered by Germany will soon appear in front of us. This pressure Maybe it’s more than we can afford. What I’m asking now is: you declare a state of non-belligerence, which means that you will do everything in your power to help us except actually sending armed forces to the war.”

Churchill did not buy a large warship last time, but this time he reduced the tonnage. "(The United States is required to) borrow 40 to 50 older destroyers to make up for the gap between our existing ships and the large number of new ships we have started building since the beginning of the war." In addition, it is hoped that the United States will provide hundreds of the latest destroyers Combat aircraft and a much-needed batch of air defense equipment, ammunition and steel. Churchill also said: "As long as we can still pay in dollars, we will continue to use dollars to buy; but I have reason to believe that even if we can't pay, you will still provide us with supplies."

These last words were written in an almost begging tone, and were simply embarrassing to the family. Perhaps in order to save the last face of the British Empire, Churchill still signed "Former Naval Personnel" in the end.