By early 1941, the United States has not yet entered the war, but the country is already mobilizing for it. Factories retool for war production, shipping Lend-Lease materiel to Britain and other democracies still fighting, while young men across the country register for service under a peacetime draft. Archival footage and period newsreels show the shift from isolationist caution to a national posture built around the word "preparedness," as Roosevelt's administration tries to arm allies without formally joining the fight. The film tracks how the war already raging across Europe, Africa, and Asia reshapes daily American life months before Pearl Harbor, from factory floors converting to military output to public messaging urging citizens toward sacrifice and readiness. It also traces the mounting friction with Japan in the Pacific, showing how a second front was closing in even as attention stayed fixed on the Atlantic. Narration and archival material carry the account of a country arming itself while still officially at peace.