Franklin D. Roosevelt: 1882-1945

As congressional leaders and Cabinet members look on, at 4:10 p.m. on December 8, 1941, FDR signs the declaration that would bring the U.S. into World War II. While the U.S. had to play a fast catch-up to serve as "the arsenal of democracy," by 1943 it was producing 60 percent of Allied war materiel while also managing to finance the bulk of Allied war operations through FDR's lend-lease program. According to Eleanor Roosevelt, Americans' experience with the New Deal "had fostered the spirit that would make it possible for us to fight the war."

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