6/8: America First: Roosevelt vs. Lindbergh in the Shadow of War Hardcover – September 24, 2024 by H. W. Brands (Author)
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 6 November 2024
⏱️ 7 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
https://www.amazon.com/America-First-Roosevelt-Lindbergh-Shadow/dp/0385550413
Hitler's invasion of Poland in September 1939 launched a momentous period of decision-making for the United States. With fascism rampant abroad, should America take responsibility for its defeat?
For popular hero Charles Lindbergh, saying no to another world war only twenty years after the first was the obvious answer. Lindbergh had become famous and adored around the world after his historic first flight over the Atlantic in 1927. In the years since, he had emerged as a vocal critic of American involvement overseas, rallying Americans against foreign war as the leading spokesman the America First Committee.
While Hitler advanced across Europe and threatened the British Isles, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt struggled to turn the tide of public opinion. With great effort, political shrewdness and outright deception—aided by secret British disinformation efforts in America—FDR readied the country for war. He pushed the US onto the world stage where it has stayed ever since.
In this gripping narrative, H.W. Brands sheds light on a crucial tipping point in American history and depicts the making of a legendary president.
1941 Lend Lease
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | I'm John Datchel with Professor H.W. Brands, Bill Brands. America First is the book, |
| 0:09.0 | Roosevelt versus Lindbergh in the Shadow of War. This is like a drama, a play, in which the two |
| 0:15.2 | principles each can take the stage alternately, and they're playing often to the same foils, the same chorus. |
| 0:24.2 | This time it's Congress, before it was the American people. The date I have is 1.1541. Congressman |
| 0:34.2 | Bloom invites Lindberg to testify to the House Foreign Affairs Committee. |
| 0:39.0 | The Senate within 24 or 48 hours, the same invitation. |
| 0:43.2 | And at the end, there's applause as Lindberg stands up. |
| 0:47.6 | He talks about what needs to be done to defend America. |
| 0:50.7 | We don't need to send troops to Europe. |
| 0:54.0 | Professor, at this point, I worried about |
| 0:56.9 | Lindbergh. He's in over his head. Does he know it? He's in over his head politically. He's |
| 1:04.1 | beginning to realize that Roosevelt is really good at politics, of making things in politics happen the way he wants them to happen. |
| 1:16.7 | Lindberg recognizes that he's a bit of a babe in the woods politically, |
| 1:21.7 | but he takes a certain pride in that very innocence or naivete because it means that he hasn't succumbed to the culture |
| 1:32.3 | of politics in the way Roosevelt has. So he likes to think of himself as this person who stands aside |
| 1:38.6 | and speaks the truth as he sees it without shading it in one direction or another. So that's the position |
| 1:46.1 | that he takes. Now, he still gets a hearing in Congress because there are still opponents of |
| 1:53.1 | Roosevelt. By this time, they're nearly all Republicans, and they have it against Roosevelt on |
| 1:59.8 | partisan grounds as well as on policy grounds. And of course, |
| 2:03.4 | in politics, it's always impossible to tease out entirely what's personal and what's political. |
| 2:09.6 | But they bring Lindbergh forward, not because of his views on politics, but because of his |
| 2:16.1 | expertise on matters of air warfare. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from John Batchelor, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of John Batchelor and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.