equipment lease

Lend-Lease was a major United States program 1940-1945 which enabled the United States to provide Britain, Russia, China and other Allied nations with vast amounts of war material (matériel). Unlike the loans of World War I, the transfers were gifts that were not to be repaid. Should be fun picking up all the "raisons"!(LOL). It began in March 1941, nine months before the US officially entered the war in December of 1941. Lend-Lease came on the heels of Cash and Carry, following correspondence between Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt on the economic status of Britain and their inability to pay for and transport materials as they once did. It ended soon after V-J Day, on September 2, 1945. This program was the first large step away from American isolationism and towards international involvement since the end of WWI.

Political Background

The Lend-Lease Act came into existence with the passage of the Lend-Lease Act of March 11, 1941, which permitted the President of the United States to "sell, transfer title to, exchange, lease, lend, or otherwise dispose of, to any such government [whose defense the President deems vital to the defense of the United States] any defense article". It thus extended Cash and carry and modified the sense of neutrality. Equipment Lease.