Why an Old Debate Still Matters

Abstract: The American presidential election campaign of 1940 raised questions that were again salient in the 2024 election. The central question was: What ought to be the role of the United States in the world? In 1940 Franklin Roosevelt argued in favor of active American participation in world affairs, starting with American entry into the war against Germany and Japan. Charles Lindbergh argued against intervention. Lindbergh’s side lost, America went to war, and the United States assumed a position of world leadership that was largely unchallenged in American politics until the emergence of Donald Trump. In 2024 Trump criticized American support for Ukraine in its war against Russia and cast doubt on other American commitments abroad. And he won. Whether his second term yields a retreat from the global interventionism Roosevelt advocated in 1940 remains to be seen.