President Roosevelt was interested in having a ship like the French super-destroyers

In 1940, President Roosevelt expressed an interest in having a super-destroyer like those used by the French (such as the Fantasque or Volta). Given how the American designers gold-plated everything, the design turned out over4,000 tons, at which point all interest died. American design standards were quite different from those of the French, and there were some things you just couldn't due (regrettably). President Roosevelt had influence. The only reason that the Iowa class ships were built was due to his interest. The navy establishment had no interest. They wanted to build worse ships. They had no interest in a really fast battleship, despite the fact that they turned out to be the best American battleships ever built.