Editing Herbert Hoover (section)

====World War II====
{{Further|Presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, third and fourth terms}}

During a 1938 trip to Europe, Hoover met with [[Adolf Hitler]] and stayed at [[Hermann Göring]]'s hunting lodge.{{sfn|Whyte 2017|pp=558–559}} He expressed dismay at the persecution of Jews in Germany and believed that Hitler was mad, but did not present a threat to the U.S. Instead, Hoover believed that Roosevelt posed the biggest threat to peace, holding that Roosevelt's policies provoked Japan and discouraged France and the United Kingdom from reaching an "accommodation" with Germany.<ref name=wsj10282017>{{cite news|first=Edward|last=Kosner|title=A Wonder Boy on the Wrong Side of History|newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|location=New York City|date=October 28, 2017}}</ref> After the September 1939 [[invasion of Poland]] by Germany, Hoover opposed U.S. involvement in [[World War II]], including the [[Lend-Lease]] policy.{{sfn|Leuchtenburg 2009|pp=152–154}} He was active in the isolationist [[America First Committee]].<ref>Katznelson, Ira (2013). ''Fear Itself: The New Deal and the Origins of our Time. New York'', NY: Liveright Publishing Corporation. {{ISBN|978-0-87140-450-3}}. {{OCLC|783163618}}.</ref> He rejected Roosevelt's offers to help coordinate relief in Europe,{{sfn|Whyte 2017|p=565}} but, with the help of old friends from the CRB, helped establish the [[Commission for Polish Relief]].{{sfn|Jeansonne 2016|pp=328–329}} After the beginning of the [[German occupation of Belgium during World War II|occupation of Belgium]] in 1940, Hoover provided aid for Belgian civilians, though this aid was described as unnecessary by German broadcasts.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cornellcollege.edu/history/courses/stewart/his260-3-2006/01%20one/befr.htm|title=The Great Humanitarian: Herbert Hoover's Food Relief Efforts|publisher=Cornell College|access-date=February 28, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/speeches/1940-the-finest-hour/the-few/|last=Churchill|first=Winston|title='The Few' Speech|date=August 20, 1940|publisher=International Churchill Society|access-date=February 28, 2020}}</ref>

In December 1939, sympathetic Americans led by Hoover formed the [[Finnish Relief Fund]] to donate money to aid Finnish civilians and refugees after the [[Soviet Union]] had started the [[Winter War]] by attacking Finland, which had outraged Americans.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,763540,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101014061233/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,763540,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=October 14, 2010 | magazine=Time | title=FOREIGN TRADE: Amtorg's Spree | date=February 19, 1940}}</ref> By the end of January, it had already sent more than two million dollars to the Finns.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,849150,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101014065449/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,849150,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=October 14, 2010 | magazine=Time | title=THE CONGRESS: Sounding Trumpets | date=January 29, 1940}}</ref>

During a radio broadcast on June 29, 1941, one week after the [[Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union]], Hoover disparaged any "tacit alliance" between the U.S. and the USSR, stating, "if we join the war and Stalin wins, we have aided him to impose more communism on Europe and the world... War alongside Stalin to impose freedom is more than a travesty. It is a tragedy."<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|first=Edgar Eugene|last=Robinson|chapter=Hoover, Herbert Clark|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|volume=11|publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]]|location=Chicago, Illinois|date=1973|pages=676–77}}</ref> Much to his frustration, Hoover was not called upon to serve after the [[Military history of the United States during World War II|United States entered World War II]] due to his differences with Roosevelt and his continuing unpopularity.{{sfn|Leuchtenburg 2009|pp=155–156}} He did not pursue the presidential nomination at the [[1944 Republican National Convention]], and, at the request of Republican nominee [[Thomas E. Dewey]], refrained from campaigning during the general election.{{sfn|Whyte 2017|p=572}} In 1945, Hoover advised President [[Harry S. Truman]] to drop the United States' demand for the [[unconditional surrender]] of Japan because of the high projected casualties of the [[Operation Downfall|planned invasion of Japan]], although Hoover was unaware of the [[Manhattan Project]] and the [[Nuclear weapons of the United States|atomic bomb]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Cohen |first=Jared |title=Accidental presidents : eight men who changed America|date=April 9, 2019 |publisher= Simon & Schuster|isbn=978-1-5011-0982-9|edition=First hardcover |location=New York|pages=313|oclc=1039375326}}</ref>

In 1943, Hoover expressed his support for [[Zionism]].<ref>{{cite web | title=Herbert Hoover's Plan for Palestine | url=https://cooperative-individualism.org/medoff-rafael_herbert-hoover's-plan-for-palestine-1990-summer.pdf | access-date=December 29, 2024}}</ref>