The Jewish Trail of Tears The Evian Conference of ... - Haruth.com

summit as a means of deflecting any domestic call for action by preemptively taking the
“wind out of his critic’s sails.” 26
Yehuda Bauer contended that the President wanted to aid the refugees but at
minimal cost to the United States: no financial expenditures and maintenance of the
current quota system. He believed that an “alliance system,” composed of the democratic
nations, could successfully negotiate with Germany enabling refugees to retain sufficient
capital to facilitate their immigration and integration into new countries with more than
eighty percent heading for destinations other than America. If successful in this endeavor
the President would “score” points with domestic liberals, placate American Jews and
create a “united front” against the Reich on an issue that was very “sensitive.” The
achievement of such a goal required the construction of a new international refugee
organization that was distinct from the ineffectual League of Nations. 27
Patrick Maney concluded that the chief characteristic of Roosevelt lay in his
“extraordinary sunny disposition and abiding sense that all was right with the world.”
His positive outlook helped to maintain the morale of his fellow Americans and the
persecuted and dispossessed of humanity. However, he viewed such a character trait as a
“relatively unimportant leadership quality” out of touch with the gravity of global
problems. Luck played a role as seen in the consequences of the Pearl Harbor attack
which provided the means for the United States to enter the war while simultaneously
dealing the isolationist movement a decisive blow. Among the Presidents, Maney
26 Rafael Medoff, Jewish Americans and Political Participation: A Reference Handbook, (Santa Barbara,
CA: ABC-CLIO, Inc., 2002), 112.
27 Bauer, Jews for Sale? 30.
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