merican war production to Britain. Adm. Stark described the effect of the thirdterm victory upon Britain in a letter November 12, 1940, to Adm. Hart, commander-in-chief of the Asiatic fleet. Stark reported: “Ghormley (Vice-Adm. Robert L. Ghormley, naval observer in London), tells me that the British expected us to be in the war a few days after the re-election of the President--which is merely another evidence of their slack ways of thought and of their non-realistic views of international political conditions and of our own political system."On December 17, 1940, Roosevelt proposed lend-lease to eliminate the "silly, foolish old dollar sign" in paying Britain's war bills On May 29, 1941, he permitted British airmen to train here. On June 14, 1941, he froze German and Italian funds and, on June 16, ordered consular staffs of the two nations out of the United States. On June 22, he promised Russia support in its new war with Germany. On July 7, 1941, he ordered American Marines into Iceland to relieve the British garrison.During the same month thousands of American workers streamed into Londonderry, North Ireland, to build a great American naval base. On August 14, 1941, Roosevelt and Churchill proclaimed the Atlantic Charter after a meeting at sea off Newfoundland. The Selective Service Act was extended on the same day and the previous limitation that not more than 900,000 men should be in training at one time was removed. On September 11, 1941, after torpedoes were fired at the destroyer "Greer" near Iceland, Roosevelt issued an order to the Navy to "shoot on sight" if German or Italian warships were encountered.On October 27, 1941, in his Navy Day speech, Roosevelt announced to the country that "the shooting has started" and "we Americans have cleared our decks and taken our battle stations”. On November 17, 1941, Roosevelt received authority to arm merchant ships.On November 24, he sent troops to occupy Dutch Guiana, s...
