Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies
organization
The Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies (CDAAA) was an American mass movement and political action group formed in May 1940. Also known as the White Committee, its leader until January 1941 was William Allen White. Other important members included Clark Eichelberger and Dean Acheson. The CDAAA shared its leadership with the dissolved Non-Partisan Committee for Peace through Revision of the Neutrality Law (NPC), which was also chaired by White and directed by Eichelberger. Additionally, the CDAAA used ex-NPC offices in the League of Nations building at 8 W. 40th Street in New York City, as their central base. This has drawn commentators to regard the CDAAA as the successor to the NPC.
The primary objective of the CDAAA was to persuade the United States government to support pro-British policies against Nazi Germany, which was winning the war in Europe. This included economic and material support through the Destroyer-for-Bases Agreement and the Lend-Lease policy. The CDAAA, however, advocated against the declaration of war against Germany or any other belligerent nations until the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Organization and membership
Unlike other pro-intervention groups like the NPC and Committee for Non-Participation in Japanese Aggression (ACNPJA), the CDAAA actively incorporated the public into committees. As a result, 300 self-financed, self-controlled local units had been created across America by 1 July 1940.
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