On 11 March, Roosevelt signed the Lend-Lease Act, which provided $7 billion in military credits for Great Britain. A similar Act was passed to provide aid to the Soviet Union in November. In 1940, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill warned the American president that he may not have enough money to successfully prosecute the war against the Axis. This prompted Roosevelt to propose the concept of lend-lease on 8 December 1940. The language of the Act enabled Roosevelt to give aid to any nation whose defense ultimately proved vital to the United States. The Act also read that the U.S. could accept repayment “in kind or property, or any other direct or indirect benefit which the President deems satisfactory.” The aid, enabled by the Act, was eventually extended to China and the…
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Citation: Richert, Lucas Paul. "US passes Lend-Lease Act". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 October 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=3066, accessed 26 November 2024.]