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Franklin
Delano Roosevelt |
1882
- 1945 |
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President
and Commander in Chief of US armed forces. Roosevelt
had been President since 1933. Before the United
States entered the war he was in favour of supporting
Britain against the Axis. He introduced the Lend-Lease
Act in order to supply Britain and her Allies
with war material. Roosevelt died on April 12th
1945, shortly before the end of the war. |
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Harry
S. Truman |
1892
- 1972 |
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Vice
President after replacing Henry Wallace in 1944.
Became President in April 1945 following Roosevelt's
death. During his term as Vice-President, Truman
was rarely consulted by Roosevelt, however, after
succeeding to the Presidency he adapted quickly
to the role and the heavy responsibility of deciding
upon the use of the atomic bomb. |
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Henry
L. Stimson |
1867
- 1950 |
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 |
Secretary
of War from July 1940. Stimson was a supporter
of Lend-Lease aid to Britain and was also in favour
of repealing the Neutrality Act. He was present
at all the major Allied conferences during the
war. Stimson introduced compulsory military service
and supported using the atomic bomb against Japan.
He resigned in September 1945. |
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Harry
Hopkins |
1890
- 1946 |
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Secretary
of Commerce until August 1940 and special advisor
and envoy to Roosevelt. Hopkins was a skilled
mediator and often represented Roosevelt at Allied
meetings. He conferred with Churchill and Stalin
on wartime aid requirements and helped to get
Lend-Lease underway. |
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Cordell
Hull |
1871
-1955 |
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 |
Secretary
of State until November 1944. Principally involved
with US-Japanese negotiations before Pearl Harbor.
Hull had to take on a more back seat role in international
negotiations following the US entry into the war. |
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Edward
R. Stettinius Jr. |
1900
-1949 |
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 |
Succeeded
Hull as Secretary of State in November 1944. Stettinius
had previously been special advisor to Roosevelt
on matters of war production and war economics.
He was succeeded by James Byrnes in July 1945. |
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Frank
Knox |
1874
-1944 |
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 |
Secretary
of the Navy from 1940. Knox was responsible for
supplying and expanding the US Navy. He died in
office in April 1944. |
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Admiral
Ernest J. King |
1878
-1956 |
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 |
Chief
of Naval Operations, King was known as one of
the top strategic planners of the war. |
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General
George C. Marshall |
1880
-1959 |
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 |
Army
Chief of Staff from 1939. Marshall was an expert
planner and led the expansion of the US armed
forces from 130,000 men to a strength of some
8.3 million men. He played a leading role in strategic
planning for all theatres of the war and was considered
the top candidate for the command of Allied forces
in Europe. His value to Roosevelt in Washington
however, prevented him from being appointed and
Eisenhower was given the role instead. Marshall
retired in November 1945. |
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Admiral
William D. Leahy |
1875-1959 |
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 |
Chief
of Naval Operations from 1937-1939; Governor of
Puerto Rico 1939-1940; Ambassador to Vichy France
1940-1942; Chief of Staff to the President from
1942 to 1949. Leahy was an invaluable advisor
to Truman following the death of Roosevelt. |
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British
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| Japanese
| Italians |
