In his first inaugural address on March 4, 1933, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt committed his nation to "the policy of the good neighbor—the neighbor who resolutely respects himself and, because he does so, respects the rights of others". Drawing on the words of his predecessor Herbert Hoover, Roosevelt's Good Neighbor Policy promised to replace US intervention in the domestic affairs of the countries of Latin America with a slew of cooperative efforts across the region.

As hostilities in the Old World intensified and approached the point of civilizational conflict, the United States came to understand that fending off the Axis powers in the New World would require forging alliances and fighting battles on more than just military grounds. US government agencies such as the newly-founded Office of Inter-American Affairs worked alongside private institutions and individuals to produce and distribute artwork in print, on film and over the airwaves to foster a sense of understanding and mutual purpose across the Americas. Guided by concerns of international political stability, these cultural exchanges put audiences in Brazil and the United States in touch with each other through the works of artists and performers such as Carmen Miranda, Genevieve Naylor, Orson Welles, and Caroline Durieux, through events like the New York World's Fair, exhibitions by the Museum of Modern Art, and mass media productions from corporations such as NBC and Disney. 

This rapprochement between Brazil and the United States had long-lasting impacts. Culturally, the Good Neighbor Policy introduced Brazil to a process of "Americanization" in which the United States replaced Europe, and more specifically France, as the country's primary external influence in the arts, sciences, education, and media. Far from passive assimilation, the predominant influence of American culture on Brazil has produced new cultural values and practices in the country which remain to this day. The displacement of Europe in favor of the United States under the Good Neighbor Policy also led to an expansion of American business in Brazil. While the close of World War II put an end to one of the most intense phases of exchange between the countries, two monuments of Brazil-US cultural relations from this period endure: on January 12th, 1942, the Library of Congress debuted four murals by Brazilian artist Cândido Portinari at the entrance of the then-named Hispanic Foundation; likewise, on December 8, 1942, the artwork of American artists George Biddle and Hélène Sardeau was inaugurated at the entrance of Brazil's Biblioteca Nacional.

Key events

• New York World's Fair (1939-1940)

Key figures

• MacLeish, Archibald, 1892-1982
• Portinari, Cândido, 1903-1962.
• Rockefeller, Nelson A. (Nelson Aldrich), 1908-1979.

Key groups

• Library of Congress. Hispanic Foundation.
• United States. Interdepartmental Committee on Scientific and Cultural Cooperation
• United States. Office of the coordinator of Inter-American Affairs
• United States. Office of Inter-American Affairs.