Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin met for a second time at the February 1945 Yalta Conference in

Crimea. With the end of the war in Europe approaching, Roosevelt's primary focus was on
convincing Stalin to enter the war against Japan; the Joint Chiefs had estimated that an American
invasion of Japan would cause as many as one million American casualties. In return for the Soviet
Union's entrance into the war against Japan, the Soviet Union was promised control of Asian
territories such as Sakhalin Island. The three leaders agreed to hold a conference in 1945 to
establish the United Nations, and they also agreed on the structure of the United Nations Security
Council, which would be charged with ensuring international peace and security. Roosevelt did not
push for the immediate evacuation of Soviet soldiers from Poland, but he won the issuance of the
Declaration on Liberated Europe, which promised free elections in countries that had been occupied
by Germany. Germany itself would not be dismembered, but would be jointly occupied by the United
States, France, Britain, and the Soviet Union. [287] Against Soviet pressure, Roosevelt and Churchill
refused to consent to imposing huge reparations and deindustrialization on Germany after the war.
[288]
 Roosevelt's role in the Yalta Conference has been controversial; critics charge that he naively
trusted the Soviet Union to allow free elections in Eastern Europe, while supporters argue that there
was little more that Roosevelt could have done for the Eastern European countries given the Soviet
occupation and the need for cooperation with the Soviet Union during and after the war. [289][290]
Course of the war
See also: Military history of the United States during World War II
The Allies invaded French North Africa in November 1942, securing the surrender of Vichy
French forces within days of landing. [291] At the January 1943 Casablanca Conference, the Allies
agreed to defeat Axis forces in North Africa and then launch an invasion of Sicily, with an attack on
France to take place in 1944. At the conference, Roosevelt also announced that he would only
accept the unconditional surrender of Germany, Japan, and Italy.[292] In February 1943, the Soviet
Union won a major victory at the Battle of Stalingrad, and in May 1943, the Allies secured the
surrender of over 250,000 German and Italian soldiers in North Africa, ending the North African
Campaign.[293] The Allies launched an invasion of Sicily in July 1943, capturing the island by the end
of the following month.[294] In September 1943, the Allies secured an armistice from Italian Prime
Minister Pietro Badoglio, but Germany quickly restored Mussolini to power.[294] The Allied invasion of
mainland Italy commenced in September 1943, but the Italian Campaign continued until 1945 as
German and Italian troops resisted the Allied advance. [295]

The Allies (blue and red) and the Axis Powers (black) in December 1944
To command the invasion of France, Roosevelt chose General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who had
successfully commanded a multinational coalition in North Africa and Sicily. [296] Eisenhower chose to
launch Operation Overlord on June 6, 1944. Supported by 12,000 aircraft and the largest naval force
ever assembled, the Allies successfully established a beachhead in Normandy and then advanced
further into France.[277] Though reluctant to back an unelected government, Roosevelt
recognized Charles de Gaulle's Provisional Government of the French Republic as the de facto
government of France in July 1944. After most of France had been liberated from German
occupation, Roosevelt granted formal recognition to de Gaulle's government in October 1944.
  Over the following months, the Allies liberated more territory from Nazi occupation and began the
[297]

invasion of Germany. By April 1945, Nazi resistance was crumbling in the face of advances by both
the Western Allies and the Soviet Union. [298]
In the opening weeks of the war, Japan conquered the Philippines and the British and Dutch
colonies in Southeast Asia. The Japanese advance reached its maximum extent by June 1942,
when the U.S. Navy scored a decisive victory at the Battle of Midway. American and Australian
forces then began a slow and costly strategy called island hopping or leapfrogging through the
Pacific Islands, with the objective of gaining bases from which strategic airpower could be brought to
bear on Japan and from which Japan could ultimately be invaded. In contrast to Hitler, Roosevelt
took no direct part in the tactical naval operations, though he approved strategic decisions.
[299]
 Roosevelt gave way in part to insistent demands from the public and Congress that more effort be
devoted against Japan, but he always insisted on Germany first. The strength of the Japanese navy
was decimated in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, and by April 1945 the Allies had re-captured much of their
lost territory in the Pacific.[300]
Home front
Main article: United States home front during World War II
The home front was subject to dynamic social changes throughout the war, though domestic issues
were no longer Roosevelt's most urgent policy concern. The military buildup spurred economic
growth. Unemployment fell in half from 7.7 million in spring 1940 to 3.4 million in fall 1941 and fell in
half again to 1.5 million in fall 1942, out of a labor force of 54 million.[l] There was a growing labor
shortage, accelerating the second wave of the Great Migration of African Americans, farmers and
rural populations to manufacturing centers. African Americans from the South went to California and
other West Coast states for new jobs in the defense industry. To pay for increased government
spending, in 1941 Roosevelt proposed that Congress enact an income tax rate of 99.5% on all
income over $100,000; when the proposal failed, he issued an executive order imposing an income
tax of 100% on income over $25,000, which Congress rescinded. [302] The Revenue Act of
1942 instituted top tax rates as high as 94% (after accounting for the excess profits tax), greatly
increased the tax base, and instituted the first federal withholding tax.[303] In 1944, Roosevelt
requested that Congress enact legislation which would tax all "unreasonable" profits, both corporate
and individual, and thereby support his declared need for over $10 billion in revenue for the war and
other government measures. Congress overrode Roosevelt's veto to pass a smaller revenue
bill raising $2 billion.[304]
In 1942, with the United States now in the conflict, war production increased dramatically, but fell
short of the goals established by the president, due in part to manpower shortages. [305] The effort was
also hindered by numerous strikes, especially among union workers in the coal mining and railroad
industries, which lasted well into 1944. [306][307] Nonetheless, between 1941 and 1945, the United States
produced 2.4 million trucks, 300,000 military aircraft, 88,400 tanks, and 40 billion rounds of
ammunition. The production capacity of the United States dwarfed that of other countries; for
example, in 1944, the United States produced more military aircraft than the combined production of
Germany, Japan, Britain, and the Soviet Union.[308] The White House became the ultimate site for
labor mediation, conciliation or arbitration. One particular battle royale occurred between Vice
President Wallace, who headed the Board of Economic Warfare, and Jesse H. Jones, in charge of
the Reconstruction Finance Corporation; both agencies assumed responsibility for acquisition of
rubber supplies and came to loggerheads over funding. Roosevelt resolved the dispute by dissolving
both agencies.[309] In 1943, Roosevelt established the Office of War Mobilization to oversee the home
front; the agency was led by James F. Byrnes, who came to be known as the "assistant president"
due to his influence.[294]
Roosevelt announced the plan for a bill of social and economic rights in the State of the Union
address broadcast on January 11, 1944. (excerpt)
Roosevelt's 1944 State of the Union Address advocated that Americans should think of basic
economic rights as a Second Bill of Rights.[310] He stated that all Americans should have the right to
"adequate medical care", "a good education", "a decent home", and a "useful and remunerative job".
[311]
 In the most ambitious domestic proposal of his third term, Roosevelt proposed the G.I. Bill, which
would create a massive benefits program for returning soldiers. Benefits included post-secondary
education, medical care, unemployment insurance, job counseling, and low-cost loans for homes
and businesses. The G.I. Bill passed unanimously in both houses of Congress and was signed into
law in June 1944. Of the fifteen million Americans who served in World War II, more than half
benefitted from the educational opportunities provided for in the G.I. Bill. [312]
Declining health
Roosevelt, a chain-smoker throughout his entire adult life, [313][314] had been in declining physical health
since at least 1940. In March 1944, shortly after his 62nd birthday, he underwent testing at Bethesda
Hospital and was found to have high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, coronary artery
disease causing angina pectoris, and congestive heart failure.[315][316][317]
Hospital physicians and two outside specialists ordered Roosevelt to rest. His personal physician,
Admiral Ross McIntire, created a daily schedule that banned business guests for lunch and
incorporated two hours of rest each day. During the 1944 re-election campaign, McIntire denied
several times that Roosevelt's health was poor; on October 12, for example, he announced that "The
President's health is perfectly OK. There are absolutely no organic difficulties at all." [318] Roosevelt
realized that his declining health could eventually make it impossible for him to continue as
president, and in 1945 he told a confidant that he might resign from the presidency following the end
of the war.[319]
Election of 1944