The 1940s
	American History American Literature European History	1940s CE

1940  Roosevelt reelected to a third term 449-82EV Wendell L. Willkie .	1941 Congress enacted lend-lease, giving the president power to supply military equipment to U.S. allies.  On December 7, Japanese launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Congress declared war the next day.
1942	1943
1944  June 6, D-Day: Allied forces landed on the Normandy coast of France.  Reelected to a fourth term 432-99EV Thomas E. Dewey . The only president to be elected to four terms.	1945 The Yalta Conference was held in the Crimea in February. Roosevelt, Britain's Winston Churchill, and the USSR's Joseph Stalin discussed the terms of peace and the postwar world. On May 7, Germany surrendered ending World War II in Europe. April 12 FDR dies.  On June 26, the United Nations Charter was signed.  From July 16 to August 2, Harry Truman attended the Potsdam Conference.  After atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan surrendered in September.  1st Lady: Elizabeth
1946 Ordered the seizure of the nation's railroads in the face of a strike threat	1947 On March 12, Truman outlined the Truman Doctrine -- U.S. aid would go to Greece, Turkey and other nations  "threatened by armed minorities and outside pressure."  In June, the Marshall Plan, a plan to provide economic and technical assistance to war-torn Europe, was announced.  Congress overrode a presidential veto of the Taft Hartley labor bill.
1948 In a "political upset,"  T defeated 303-189-39EV Thomas E. Dewey Strom Thurmond to win a full term.	1949 In January, granted recognition of the new state of Israel.  The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was established.

1940s  

06/25/00 GRAPHIC HISTORY