Why did the US enter World War II late?

Introduction ___________________________________________________________________________ In 1939, the world witnessed the beginning of arguably the most devastating of all combat in the history of mankind, World War II. The conflict would ravage the entire European continent and far beyond extending into the far reaches of the planet, stretching from the lands of the African continent and waters of the Atlantic, to the Philippine islands in the Pacific. Previously, tensions had arisen with Germany's annexation of Austria in March of 1938, along …

…States declared war on Japan on December 8th, 1941, the day following the attack on Pearl Harbor, "America went to war with unanimity of popular support that was unprecedented in the military history of the United States." Evidently, the first attack on American soil in over one hundred years had served as a wake up call to the remaining isolationists who had yet to be convinced of concerns over national safety resulting from World War II...