FDR, Commander in Chief

Franklin Roosevelt possessed an instinct for power and a willingness to exercise it in war as well as peace.

The President consolidated the work of war mobilization and military information gathering so he could monitor and direct events. He respected his military commanders and left battle strategy and tactics to them. But he also prodded and challenged. And in matters of grand strategy Roosevelt set the course and saw that no one strayed from it.

FDR relied upon a bipartisan cabinet to build support for the war effort. In 1940 he had added two prominent Republicans to the cabinet. Henry Stimson, who had served as Herbert Hoover's Secretary of State, became Secretary of War. Frank Knox - a vocal critic of the New Deal and the Republican's vice presidential nominee in 1936 - was appointed Secretary of the Navy.