This Day in American History October 23

The Library Of Congress

The Lend-Lease Act

The Senate passed the $5.98 billion supplemental Lend-Lease bill on October 23, 1941, bringing the United States one step closer to direct involvement in World War II. The Lend-Lease Act, approved by Congress in March 1941, gave President Roosevelt virtually unlimited authority to direct material aid such as ammunition, tanks, airplanes, trucks, and food to the war effort in Europe without violating the nation’s official position of neutrality.

The United States formally entered the war in December 1941 following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Initially intended to help Great Britain, within months, the Lend-Lease program was expanded to include China and the Soviet Union. By the end of the war, the United States had extended $49,100,000,000 in Lend-Lease aid to more than 40 nations.