Comparing Franklin D. Roosevelt and Charles Lindbergh\'s Views on Whether America Should Involve Itself in European Affairs Essay

In the starting years of World War 2, there was much talk about American neutrality and whether or not intervening with European affairs was beneficial to the country. At the end of 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave a speech regarding this issue and the following year pilot Charles Lindbergh gave his rebuttal to a club he was a member in. While F.D.R. used scare tactics and a seemingly obligation to the Allies, Lindbergh argued using statistics and the basic human ideal of self-preservation, which gave him the stronger argument. In his declaration to America, Franklin D. Roosevelt used ethos to try and persuade the county into agreeing with him in his act to lease weapons to Britain. F.D.R. wasted no time in making the war a personal matter to try and compel listeners to agree with him. In the second sentence that he said, he brought in the mention of the possible future wars involving children and grandchildren. He went on to talk about how it would only be a matter of time before Britain fell and the Axis would come to destroy America like a pesky fly. He closed off his speech with the reasoning that American should build weapons to aid the Allies, but not get directly involved. His argument revolved around the idea of helping out another country at that moment, so that America could put off war later. Charles Lindbergh, a prominent member of the isolationist group, argued using facts and the philosophy of building a stronger American defense. While he acknowledged that the fall of the British empire would be tragic, he noted that the last remaining allied member had been spewing propaganda and there was no real way of telling how well off their military was. Then, he made the point that America had a responsibility to its citizens to protect them at all costs, even it that meant not aiding Britain. Unlike Roosevelt, Lindbergh proceeded to discuss...