Fun Fact #437 Full steam ahead

Fun Fact #437

Full Steam Ahead

After Franklin D. Roosevelt supported Woodrow WIllson’s successful 1912 campaign for President, he was appointed to “Assistant Secretary of the Navy '' making Roosevelt the 2nd highest ranking official in the Navy department.  While there his views on the need for a strong Navy led him to approve the construction of more ships (including some of the first US Dreadnaughts), and research into experimental weapons at the time such as magnetic torpedoes. More importantly however, he formalized the system of promotion through merit –limiting Tammany from merely appointing their members as they liked. Then FDR instituted civilian control and transparency over many of the autonomous groups within the navy allowing the public to recognize and root out corruption for themselves. He even informally established the United States Naval Flying Corps to scout ahead of ships.

Tammany Hall wasn’t taking this lying down however, as they were actively announcing Roosevelt’s largely unpopular expansion of the Navy hoping he would get replaced in the upcoming election. This backfired however with the onset of World War 1 where his navy proved highly effective making FDR a household name.

 One of the last acts he did in this position was the creation of “War Plan Orange” which was a strategy for taking on Japan in case the increasingly oil hungry nation went to war with the US –a plan which would be enacted after the US entry into WW2.