During a tense moment in the Anglo-American partnership, President Franklin Roosevelt, chided Winston Churchill with an old prayer,” Spare me from my friends…I can handle my enemies.”i FDR’s frustrations were justified. The redoubtable Churchill’s behavior sometimes threatened the success of the coalition and Joseph Stalin could strain the most magnanimous partner. In the pursuit of US interests, FDR required a means to bind these unlikely partners together – one that could be customized to each partner and the conditions of the moment. FDR’s administration answered the need by constructing and honing a proto-defense security cooperation instrument flexible enough to advance US interests, despite beguilingly complex coalition partners with radically different post-war visions. The Roosevelt administration’s security cooperation initiatives, which included providing material aid, establishing combined command and control, and sharing intelligence and planning, resulted in a collective force more effective than its individual components.
