The Reuben James Goes Down: Roosevelt's Dilemma

Since the summer of 1941, the U.S. Navy has escorted part of the Atlantic convoys; after the Greer incident, Roosevelt gave the order to "shoot on sight" (11 September). On 17 October, the destroyer Kearny is torpedoed (11 dead). On 31 October 1941, Kapitänleutnant Topp's U-552 sinks the USS Reuben James off Iceland: about a hundred dead, the first American warship lost — before Pearl Harbor.

The outrage is keen, but isolationism remains powerful (America First, Lindbergh). Roosevelt must decide: ask Congress for a declaration of war on Germany, continue the undeclared naval war (escorts, arming of ships) while remaining "short of war," or pull back to avoid the fatal incident.

The president advances along a knife's edge between public opinion and the slide into war.