January 6
1942 Roosevelt commits to biggest arms buildup in U.S. history
On this day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt announces to Congress that he
is authorizing the largest armaments production in the history of the United
States.
Committed to war in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, the U.S. had to reassess
its military preparedness, especially in light of the fact that its Pacific
fleet was decimated by the Japanese air raid. Among those pressing President
Roosevelt to double U.S. armaments and industrial production were Lord
William Beaverbrook, the British minister of aircraft production, and
members of the British Ministry of Supplies, who were meeting with their
American counterparts at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington. Beaverbrook, a
newspaper publisher in civilian life, employed production techniques he
learned in publishing to cut through red tape, improve efficiency, and boost
British aircraft production to manufacturing 500 fighters a month, and he
felt the U.S. could similarly beef up armament production.
Spurred on by Lord Beaverbrook and Prime Minister Churchill, Roosevelt
agreed to the arms buildup. He announced to Congress that the first year of
the supercharged production schedule would result in 45,000 aircraft, 45,000
tanks, 20,000 antiaircraft guns, and 8 million tons in new ships.
Congressmen were stunned at the proposal, but Roosevelt was undeterred:
"These figures and similar figures for a multitude of other implements of
war will give the Japanese and Nazis a little idea of just what they
accomplished."
Everette