Neglected Aspects of the Destroyer Deal

Abstract

On September 3, 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent to Congress a message in which he stated, in part:I transmit herewith for the information of the Congress notes exchanged between the British Ambassador at Washington and the Secretary of State on September 2, 1940, under which this Government has acquired the right to lease naval and air bases in Newfoundland, and in the islands of Bermuda, the Bahamas, Jamaica, Santa Lucia, Trinidad, and Antigua, and in British Guiana; also a copy of an opinion of the Attorney General, dated August 27, 1940, regarding my authority to consummate this arrangement.