Having lost more than one hundred thousand lives during World War I, the idea of the United States entering World War II was not a popular prospect. The majority of the population felt that taking care of its own and leaving Europe to the Europeans was the prudent choice. These views were at odds with that of President Roosevelt, whose New Deal policies were simultaneously facing increased opposition in Congress. He attempted to balance a more aggressive foreign policy with official neutrality to placate political sentiment in Washington. Under the banner of national security and defense, he enacted the Lend-Lease program that allowed the United States to supply munitions to foreign allies without directly sending troops, thereby avoiding official entry into a foreign conflict. These efforts not only allowed Britain to continue fighting but also boosted the domestic economy and created millions of jobs for Americans. By the early 1920s, more than a million Black citizens had left the South to find factory work in the Northeast and Midwest, primarily focusing on the packing, automotive, and metalworking industries. Their work, however, was considered “unskilled labor” and therefore not generally represented by the American Federation of Labor, creating racial tensions within various labor unions. Black people were also typically paid less than their white counterparts for the same work and fired first. The demand for rapidly increased production in the early 1940s meant that certain racist policies were less strictly enforced by employers in favor of profits. Here, two actual employees of Republic Aviation Corporation—Louis Ward and Walter Shippe—are shown using a pop riveter on the fuselage of a plane on Long Island, New York.