FDR's Secret War

Last night I watched the new History Channel Documentary entitled FDR's Secret War. This program is based in large part on Joseph E. Parsico's book entitled Roosevelt's Secret War: FDR and World War II Espionage.



The documentary's central theme is that FDR's modus operandi as a President was one of constant deception and secrecy, beginning with his concealment of his polio and his affair with Lucy Mercer, as well as more substantial policy matters during his presidency. These include his supply of aircraft and pilots (the famous "Flying Tigers") to the Chinese in their war with Japan, while asserting a position of neutrality to the American people. The documentary also alleges that FDR did an end around traditional intelligence sources, instead choosing to rely on his own contacts, such as a member of the Astor family and others from wealthy American families, many of whom were subsequently appointed as ambassadors by FDR. This blue-blood network served as Roosevelt's eyes and ears around the world. They reported directly to him and the government intelligence network was left out of the loop according to this documentary.

The program also focuses on FDR's creation of the OSS under the leadership of Republican "Wild Bill" Donovan, a maverick with whom FDR had a good relationship. According to the documentary, initially the OSS garnered intelligence that traditional agencies would not have been able to gather, resulting in military advantage to the US. But the documentary alleges that jealousy on the part of government agencies such as the FBI resulted in turf wars. Information was not shared between the agencies, OSS officers were not even allowed on military ships at Normandy and as a result lives were lost at Anzio and elsewhere on the European theater. It is alleged that FDR did nothing about this.

The documentary is critical of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, who it is said had intelligence of a pending attack on Pearl Harbor, but did nothing with it. It also alleges that Henry Wallace, FDR's Vice-President, was unwittingly sending military intelligence to the Nazis by way of phone calls to his brother-in-law, the Swiss Ambassador. It also claims that the Nazis were able to unscramble phone calls to the White House due to a New York Times story, and that this situation persisted for several years before being corrected.

Overall the documentary is not very complimentary to Roosevelt. One review of the documentary describes Roosevelt as a "principled Machiavellian". I don't think that's a fair assessment, given the problems on FDR's plate. I think he was making tough decisions with the best interests of the nation in mind given the times that he lived in. The documentary doesn't give sources for its more controversial claims, but perhaps the book does.

This is a 47 minute program of interesting history that I'd recommend for all potus_geeks. I'm curious if anyone else has either seen this program or read Persico's book, and if so, I'd love to get your take on either.