It would therefore not be sufficient, he continued, to defeat Japan if Americans “found that the rest of the world was [still] dominated by Hitler and Mussolini.” This was a massive escalation in Roosevelt’s rhetorical warfare with Hitler as he sought to educate Americans on the global situation. But, crucially, he stopped short of asking Congress for a declaration of war. In order to overcome his anti-interventionist opponents and bring the country into the war in Europe united, he was still reliant on Hitler making the decisive move.
