Chapter 15 Summary

Republicans did well in the 1942 Congressional election. They picked up forty-four seats in the House and nine in the Senate. Roosevelt wanted the invasion of North Africa to take place before this election, but could not arrange it. The invasion occurred the following week on Sunday, November 8.

There were problems convincing the French that the allies were not conquering North Africa, but rather liberating it. There were also problems getting the right equipment to the soldiers. The allies enjoyed good luck in that the Atlantic Ocean was unusually calm and everyone was euphoric that at last they were on a major offensive. However, a bad political situation arose when allied leaders approached Admiral Jean-Francois Darlan to persuade local French forces to join the invasion. Darlan had collaborated with the Nazis. Charles de Gaulle and others denounced the choice of Darlan and this criticism...