Americans didn’t join WWII for Europe, almost everyone was staunchly against joining the war before Pearl Harbour, letting Europe and Asia sort out their own problems. They were reluctant after so many died in WWI just to save European empires from other European empires. This just seemed like more of that at the time. Then Japan and Germany declared war on the US, obliging them to fight. Otherwise the people were ready to watch Europe get taken over by Hitler.
That said, the US Government had already decided they had to join the war for self preservation and were working on a way to start to convince people when Japan attacked. That really did the US war effort a lot of favours.
Americans didn’t join WWII for Europe, almost everyone was staunchly against joining the war before Pearl Harbour, letting Europe and Asia sort out their own problems. They were reluctant after so many died in WWI just to save European empires from other European empires. This just seemed like more of that at the time. Then Japan and Germany declared war on the US, obliging them to fight. Otherwise the people were ready to watch Europe get taken over by Hitler.
That said, the US Government had already decided they had to join the war for self preservation and were working on a way to start to convince people when Japan attacked. That really did the US war effort a lot of favours.
Joining the war earlier would have gotten in the way of profiteering off both sides in the war.