This summer I have been reading “No Ordinary Time,” the Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Dorothy Kearns Goodwin. It recounts the leadership of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt during World War II. I was especially struck by the incredible challenges confronting America and her allies in 1940 — exactly 75 years ago this summer. Britain was on the brink of oblivion. The mighty armies of the Nazi Reich were victorious over all of Europe. Night and day, the Luftwaffe was smashing England into ruins. Hitler was planning to invade across the channel in September. America was pitifully unprepared for war.
Thankfully Franklin Roosevelt realized the terrible danger confronting America and Great Britain — really all of Western civilization. The partnership shared by FDR and Winston Churchill was going to be the key to any possibility for survival. Nazi U-Boats were destroying the merchant ships bringing precious food and supplies that allowed the British to survive. Churchill begged FDR to send help — 50 aging surplus destroyers. Half the British fleet of destroyers had been sunk or damaged at Dunkirk. Churchill said that nothing America could do would be of greater help to Britain.
One might think that in such a dark and desperate time, the American Congress would see the frightening reports and agree to help. Sadly, the American Congress had a different agenda. Memories of the tragic battles of World War I and a decade of Depression blinded the senators and representatives to the mortal danger facing our nation and the only ally that was challenging the Nazis.
How did Roosevelt respond when he knew that Congress lacked the courage to act? He simply ignored them. With his Cabinet, Roosevelt worked out a plan to exchange the 50 destroyers for long-term access to British bases in the Americas, Newfoundland and elsewhere. He decided to finalize the deal by executive order and then inform Congress of what he had done. Of course, Roosevelt endured vicious abuse for his decision. The St. Louis Post Dispatch called the president a “dictator” who had “committed an act of war.”
From the perspective of 75 years, we might ask ourselves what might have happened if Roosevelt had simply listened to Congress. Most historians would say that if he had done that, Hitler might very well have pounded Britain into surrender and taken up his plans to come across the Atlantic. The history of the world might have taken a very different course.
It is now 2015. Some of the critical issues of government decision-making in 1940 echo down to our own day. I would venture that many of us wonder how history will judge the current conflict between President Barak Obama and those in Congress who oppose the Iran nuclear agreement. What will the future hold for us?
Will Congress succeed in voiding the agreement? Opponents of the president claim that this will lead to a better deal. Stronger sanctions could applied to Iran. That nation would come back to the negotiating table and humbly agree to all that Congress and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu want.
Of course, another scenario might transpire if the agreement is voided. According to many experts in the field, the sanctions would fall apart. There is clear evidence that America’s allies — China, Russia, Britain, France, and Germany — would begin trading with Iran. Without any restrictions or inspections on its nuclear program, Iran may immediately begin building a nuclear weapon. America and Israel can then exercise their power and take out Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. We can only guess what would be the frightening cost in death and destruction.
Of course, there is a chance that the president’s veto will be sustained. Many American and Israeli experts believe that the agreement will cut off Iran’s path to a nuclear weapon. If Iran secretly cheats on the agreement, severe sanctions would ensue. If that does not work, American and Israel stand ready to destroy Iran’s arsenal of weapons.
There is truly an amazing irony here. In 1940, FDR was desperately struggling to support our endangered ally and to build up America’s armaments to defeat two tyrannical empires — Nazi Germany and Japan. Today, Obama is the commander-in-chief of the most powerful nation on earth. He is trying to block a dangerous enemy from obtaining critical weapons.
All of this will unfold in the course of the next few months and years. Will Obama be remembered as America’s Neville Chamberlain, the leader who sold out to a vicious authoritarian regime?
Or will Obama be remembered as a president who followed the courageous spirit of Franklin Roosevelt? Will he be remembered as a president who helped us to learn something from the tragic mistakes of the Vietnam War and the Iraq conflict? Thousands do not have to die in senseless wars. Strong diplomacy can also be a path to a secure and peaceful future.
Martin Weiner is the rabbi emeritus of Congregation Sherith Israel in San Francisco. He is a past president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis — Reform Judaism’s professional rabbinic association.