Which selection from the article shows that American leaders were conflicted about whether to get more deeply involved in World War II? * Several laws called the Neutrality Acts tried to keep the U. S. out of World War II.
The first was the Neutrality Act of 1935. This prohibited shipping weapons to any nations at war.
Congress didn't want any more incidents like the sinking of the Lusitania – when a German submarine sunk the British ship Lusitania carrying British and Americans during World War I, killing 1,198 people on board.
Congress argued over the proposal, and Senator Robert Taft shot back at Roosevelt: "Lending war equipment is a good deal like lending chewing gum. You don't want it back."
Roosevelt began his third term – the first of any president – and urged Congress and Americans to take action. In his famous Four Freedoms Speech, he explains the rights that he believed any citizen in the world is entitled to.