Franklin D. Roosevelt had to consider isolationist tendencies among the American public and that there were neutrality acts in place.
Explanation:
When Franklin D. Roosevelt took up the Presidency of the United States, the foreign policy was largely to remain isolationist and dedicated to domestic affairs. The official position was to remain neutral in the conflicts that were occurring elsewhere at this time. Before the beginning of WWII, FDR avoided requests for armed intervention in conflicts in Mexico (with nationalization of even American assets) and Cuba with the installation of the Batista regime, for example. This was an example of the so-called "Good Neighbor Policy" where the US promised no intervention. Indeed, between 1935 and 1939, Congress passed five different Neutrality Acts that disallowed American involvement in foreign conflicts. FDR had to consider the isolationists in the domestic sphere as getting involved in international conflicts was not popular. He tried to press for a "short of war" strategy and so that America's military could rebuild and re-arm before becoming engaged in WWII.
