I wish I knew more about WWII. I remember a united public and no defeatism - but that's a kid's memory. Every war we've fought since then and all previous wars I've read about were accompanied by very public opposition.
How did Roosevelt do it? Or are my perceptions simply wrong?
Your perception is correct.
It is my recollection, as a little boy who pulled his wagon down alleys looking for scrap metal that I could sell to the metalworking shop (as I recall, $.02/lb for steel, $.04/lb for aluminum), that the country was absolutely united. At least, our little town in Oklahoma was.
The reasons for this are pretty clear:
1. We were attacked, after all, by Japan.
2. Germany had, in turn, declared war on us.
3. While there was a draft, it's necessity was understood. Most servicemen volunteered, anyway.
4. Every town, every family sent her sons to war. We all had a personal stake in it.
5. And, to insure and maintain that attitude, Roosevelt took steps toward what we now realize was a "marketing" of the war. Rationing and scrap drives were instituted for reasons that are now understood to have more to do with morale than need. Similarly, war bonds were promoted as a means of covering the resultant deficit -- and we put our savings into the war effort.
6. Importantly, the communications industry -- the news media and Hollywood -- were squarely behind the war effort and visibly supported it.
Pre-Pearl Harbor, I understand there was a great deal of conflict about the war and our limited involvement in it. But post-Pearl Harbor, there was NONE.
If the Bush administration can be faulted for their conduct of the Iraq war, it is in the "marketing" of it. It's a different kind of war, in that it doesn't really require any sacrifice on the part of the public -- beyond having to deal with the terminally silly TSA.
Meanwhile, the media can't be counted upon to provide an objective view of the war's progress. And, all too often, the administration falls mute.
As a consequence, the war is distant, increasingly misunderstood and, thus, unpopular. Unfortunately, though, that doesn't reduce the stakes...