Self-preservation was his primary motivation, and he and the leftists even accused the Republicans of aiding the Germans during his last election campaign.
It’s odd that I find myself defending FDR, but he made two decisions that did much to save the West. So I gotta give credit where credit is due.
1. FDR recognized the threat from Nazi Germany early, and so aided Britain when we were still neutral.
2. He set the overall strategy, but he left the details to the generals.
FDR didn’t interfere in every last thing as LBJ and Bush II did. And we all know what that interference cost us: a loss in Vietnam, and then a loss in Afghanistan.