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With the war going badly for the British, it was clear that Great Britain would require assistance from the United States. The British were running out of money to pay for the arms they were buying. President Roosevelt, therefore, went before the country in a Fireside Chat, in which he called for America to become an "arsenal of Democracy".
Roosevelt then introduced a bill to Congress on January 8, 1941, providing the president with the power to lend military equipment to countries that the president believed were in need.
The bill passed the House 260-165 and the Senate 60 to 31, with votes split primarily on party lines.
By the end of the war the United States had provided the following aid:
Great Britain.............$31 billion
Soviet Union.............$11 billion
France...................... ..$ 3 billion
China........................$1.5 billion
Other European..........$ 500 million
South America.............$400 million
The amount totaled: $48,601,365,000.
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