FDR and the Preparation for War 1933-1940 - Episode 509

The Unauthorized History of the Pacific War

Captain William Toti, USN

Halsey, Station Hypo, World War Ii, Macarthur, Seth Paridon, Pacific War, History, Stavridis, Cactus Air Force, Fargo, William Toti, Aircraft Carriers, Nimitz, Mush Morton, Wahoo, Imperial Japan, Cruisers, Wake Island, Battleships, Spruance, Courses, Submarines, Midway, Cincpac, Guadalcanal, Documentary, Naval History And Heritage Command, Society & Culture, Admiral King, Imperial Japanese Navy, New Guinea, Cincpoa, Cryptology, Navy, Sam Cox, Pearl Harbor, Education, Bill Toti, December 7, Us Navy, Bombers, Fighters

4.8 • 654 Ratings

🗓️ 1 July 2025

⏱️ 92 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week Seth Paridon and Jon Parshall take a really deep dive into the preparation for the war that no one in the US wanted to fight. We have always said that it isn't like flipping on a light switch--the build-up had to start somewhere. Where did the US Naval and US Army build-up begin? In the heart of the Great Depression of all places. Seth and Jon get into an absolutely fascinating conversation about how American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt got his country ready to fight the war that he could see coming as far away as 1933. With a series of Naval acts proposed by the "Father of the Modern American Navy", Carl Vinson, FDR's government got shipbuilding, and the economy, back on track with a flurry of warship builds from 33-38. The guys get into the Vinson-Trammel Act of 1934, the Naval Act of 1938, the Two Ocean Navy Bill, the Peacetime Draft of 1940, and the massive uptick in aircraft production--all pointing to the effort to gear-up as the world deteriorated before our very eyes from 33-40. Check this one out...it is vitally important as to how we got where we eventually would in 1945. #wwiihistory #wwiihistory #ww2 #usnavy #usa #usarmy #medalofhonor #enterprise #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #cv6 #midway #wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #worldwar2 #usnavy #usnavyseals #usmc #usmarines #saipan #usa #usarmy #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #battleship #battleships #ussenterprise #aircraftcarriers #museum #essex #halsey #taskforce38 #wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #usnavy #usa #usarmy #medalofhonor #enterprise #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #cv6 #midway #wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #worldwar2 #usnavy #usnavyseals #usmc #usmarines #saipan #usa #usarmy #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #battleship #battleships #ussenterprise #aircraftcarriers #museum #hollywood #movie #movies #books #mastersoftheair #8thairforce #mightyeighth #100thbombgroup #bloodyhundredth #b17 #boeing #airforce wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #usnavy #usa #usarmy #medalofhonor #enterprise #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #cv6 #midway #wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #worldwar2 #usnavy #usnavyseals #usmc #usmarines #saipan #usa #usarmy #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #battleship #battleships #ussenterprise #aircraftcarriers #museum #hollywood #movie #movies #books #oldbreed #1stMarineDivision #thepacific #Peleliu #army #marines #marinecorps #worldwar2 #worldwar #worldwarii #leytegulf #battleofleytegulf #rodserling #twilightzone #liberation #blacksheep #power #prisoner #prisonerofwar #typhoon #hurricane #weather #iwojima#bullhalsey #ace #p47 #p38 #fighter #fighterpilot #b29 #strategicstudying #tokyo #boeing #incendiary #usa #franklin #okinawa #yamato #kamikaze #Q&A #questions #questionsandanswers #history #jaws #atomicbomb #nuclear #nationalarchives #nara #johnford #hollywood #fdr #president #roosevelt

Transcript

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0:00.0	The
0:07.0	The The
0:23.6	The Hello and welcome to episode 509 of the unauthorized history of the Pacific War podcast.
0:45.8	My name is Seth Peridon, historian and deputy director of the Mississippi Armed Forces Museum.
0:49.8	And with me, as always, is my good friend, author and historian John Partial.
0:53.8	How are you today john i am very
0:56.0	well looking forward to this one yes this one is going to be cool i i think yeah it's not it's
1:03.3	there's no yeah there's no boom boom in this one but not a bit but everything happens in this
1:09.8	allows us to talk about the boom, boom later.
1:11.9	That is correct.
1:13.0	And I think it's incredibly important because, you know, we've always said it, you know, you don't flip the switch.
1:18.5	And things just start working.
1:20.3	You got to start somewhere.
1:21.3	And this is where it all starts.
1:23.1	So with that, let's get into it.
1:25.2	In 1932, the United States was in the depths of the greatest financial crisis in its history. Grip by the Great Depression, the country was racked with poverty, unemployment was sky high. 15 million American workers had lost their jobs, one in every three. U.S. Steel, one of the nation's largest employers,
1:46.0	boasted a pre-Depression employee list of 225,000 people. By 1933, it had none. So desperate were
1:55.2	the times that 100,000 Americans hungry for work, hungry for food, too, left the United States
2:00.3	for the Soviet Union
2:01.4	for jobs. There was hardly a garbage dump in any major American city that did not have a bustling
2:06.7	shanty town filled with families who had been evicted from their homes or defaulted on their
2:11.6	mortgages by the hundreds. In the rural areas, it was worse. Gross farm income had fallen through the floor from $12 billion to $5 billion in just 18 months.
	...

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