Moderator: 1)What is your position about the war in Europe? Should the US send aid to Great Britain? Why or why not?
Roosevelt: When your neighbor’s house is on fire, it only makes sense to lend him your garden hose. My administration has proposed lending or leasing supplies and equipment to help Great Britain weather the storm. No American boys will be sent into battle, just material aid.
Wilkie: I agreed to the destroyer deal, because Britain does need our help. But the current administration’s Lend-Lease proposal goes too far. It would entangle us in the conflict raging in Europe, and inevitably lead to Americans fighting abroad. Aid yes, war no.
Moderator: 2)What is your position about the New Deal? About deficit spending?
Roosevelt: This administration, with its New Deal, has not be afraid to experiment, to try new methods and proposals, to provide jobs to the jobless, to provide aid to the needy, to provide comfort to the working man in his old age, and to lift this country out of depression. I have every confidence that, if re-elected, this country will be better off in four years and that the debt can be managed.
Wilkie: The current administration has outspent every previous one and has saddled the taxpayer with a debt burden that can only be described as monstrous and outrageous. The result has been lack of business investment, lack of jobs, continued poverty, and continued depression. We must cut the debt burden and free business to create the jobs that will bring prosperity to every American and end the Great Depression.
Moderator: 3)Should a President of the United States be able to run for a third term?
Roosevelt: I have never sought a third term. I was drafted by my party to serve another four years, and I will proudly do so. No one should fear, as my opponent does, that I will do anything but serve this country as a democratically elected official, responsible and responsive to the people of this great nation.
Wilkie: No man can or should be trusted with a third term. President George Washington set a wise precedent, which has been followed ever since. Electing a man to more than two terms risks giving the incumbent too much power and influence and a resulting loss of freedom and liberty. Two terms were enough for Washington, for Jefferson, for Andrew Jackson, for Grover Cleveland and for Teddy Roosevelt! They should be enough for this Roosevelt too!
