Presidents and Crisis: Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Pearl Harbor
Up until the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had not joined in any declaration of war against the Axis nations, but he had been providing aid to the Allied nations in World War II. When the war began in 1939, Roosevelt looked for ways to assist Britain and France militarily. Although many in Congress were isolationist, it passed the Lend-Lease Act in March 1941, allowing the U.S. to give Wales, England, Scotland, and China military supplies. When Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, Roosevelt agreed to extend Lend-Lease to the Soviets.
When Japan occupied northern French Indochina (now Vietnam) in late 1940, FDR authorized increased aid to the Republic of China. In July 1941, after Japan occupied the remainder of Indo-China, he cut off the sale of oil to Japan which then lost more than 95 percent of its oil supply. Roosevelt continued negotiations with the Japanese government through his Secretary of State Cordell Hull. Japan Premier Fumimaro Konoye wanted to meet with Roosevelt, but the President rejected the offer. Meanwhile, Roosevelt started sending long-range B-17 bombers to the Philippines.
Roosevelt believed that an attack by the Japanese was probable, but believed that it would occur in the Dutch East Indies or in Thailand. There have been a number of conspiracy theories that Roosevelt knew in advance about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, but these appear to lack any substance. He believed that war was imminent, but did not expect the attack to be made on Pearl Harbor.
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, knocking out the main American battle fleet, which was based on battleships. The attack was intended as a preventive strike that would keep the U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with military actions that the Empire of Japan was planning in Southeast Asia against overseas territories of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States. There were also simultaneous Japanese attacks on the U.S.-held Philippines and on the British Empire in Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
The attack began at 7:48 a.m. Hawaiian Time. The base was attacked by 353 Japanese fighters, bombers and torpedo planes in two waves, launched from six aircraft carriers. All eight U.S. Navy battleships were damaged, with four being sunk. All but one were later raised, and six of the eight battleships returned to service and fought in the war. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship, and one minelayer. 188 U.S. aircraft were destroyed. 2,402 Americans were killed and 1,282 were wounded. Important base installations such as the power station, shipyard, maintenance, fuel and torpedo storage facilities, submarine piers and headquarters building (home of the intelligence section) were not attacked.
Japanese losses were comparatively light: 29 aircraft and 5 midget submarines were lost, and 65 servicemen killed or wounded. One Japanese sailor was captured.
The attack came as a profound shock to the American people and led directly to the American entry into World War II in both the Pacific and European theaters. The following day (December 8), the United States declared war on Japan. Domestic support for non-interventionism, which had been strong disappeared.
The following day, Roosevelt called for war in his famous "Infamy Speech" to Congress, in which he said: "Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan." The lack of any formal warning, particularly while negotiations were still apparently ongoing, led President Franklin D. Roosevelt to proclaim December 7, 1941, "a date which will live in infamy". Roosevelt's speech had a unifying impact on the politics of the time. Thirty-three minutes after he finished speaking, Congress declared war on Japan, with only one Representative, Jeannette Rankin, voting against the declaration. The speech was broadcast live by radio and attracted the largest audience in US radio history, with over 81 percent of American homes tuning in to hear the President. The response was overwhelmingly positive, both within and outside of Congress. The White House was inundated with telegrams praising the president's stance. Recruiting stations were jammed with a surge of volunteers and had to go on 24-hour duty to deal with the crowds seeking to sign up.
The anti-war and isolationist movement collapsed in the wake of the speech, with even the president's fiercest critics falling into line. Charles Lindbergh, who had been a leading isolationist, declared: “ Now it [war] has come and we must meet it as united Americans regardless of our attitude in the past toward the policy our Government has followed. Our country has been attacked by force of arms, and by force of arms we must retaliate. We must now turn every effort to building the greatest and most efficient Army, Navy and Air Force in the world.”
In 1942 Roosevelt set up a new military command structure. Admiral Ernest J. King was appointed Chief of Naval Operations in complete control of the Navy and Marines. General George C. Marshall was put in charge of the Army and in nominal control of the Air Force. Roosevelt formed a new body, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, which made the final decisions on American military strategy. The Joint Chiefs was a White House agency and was chaired by Admiral William D. Leahy. Unlike the political leaders of the other major powers, Roosevelt rarely overrode his military advisers. No civilians, not even the secretaries of War or Navy, had a voice in military strategy. Roosevelt bypassed the State Department and conducted high level diplomacy through his aides, especially Harry Hopkins. Hopkins also controlled $50 billion in Lend Lease funds given to the Allies, and therefore had a great deal of credibility with the other Allied leaders.
After Pearl Harbor, antiwar sentiment in the United States evaporated. On December 11, 1941, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. Roosevelt and his military advisers implemented a war strategy with the objectives of halting the German advances in the Soviet Union and in North Africa, launching an invasion of western Europe with the aim of defeating Nazi Germany in two fronts, and on defeating Japan.
In the opening weeks of the war, Japan had conquered the Philippines, and the English and Dutch colonies in Southeast Asia, capturing Singapore in February 1942. The Japanese defeated the Allied Forces in Burma and advanced close to the borders of Bengal in India, cutting off the overland supply route to China.
Roosevelt met with Churchill in late December and planned an alliance among the U.S., Britain, China and the Soviet Union. This included Churchill's initial plan to invade North Africa and the plan of an invasion of western Europe. An agreement was also reached for a centralized command and offensive in the Pacific theater to save China and defeat Japan. But the first priority was the European offensive, much to Winston Churchill's satisfaction. On New Year's Day 1942, Roosevelt and Churchill issued what was called the "Declaration by United Nations", representing 26 countries in opposition to the Axis of Germany, Italy and Japan. And the rest, as they say, is history.
When Japan occupied northern French Indochina (now Vietnam) in late 1940, FDR authorized increased aid to the Republic of China. In July 1941, after Japan occupied the remainder of Indo-China, he cut off the sale of oil to Japan which then lost more than 95 percent of its oil supply. Roosevelt continued negotiations with the Japanese government through his Secretary of State Cordell Hull. Japan Premier Fumimaro Konoye wanted to meet with Roosevelt, but the President rejected the offer. Meanwhile, Roosevelt started sending long-range B-17 bombers to the Philippines.
Roosevelt believed that an attack by the Japanese was probable, but believed that it would occur in the Dutch East Indies or in Thailand. There have been a number of conspiracy theories that Roosevelt knew in advance about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, but these appear to lack any substance. He believed that war was imminent, but did not expect the attack to be made on Pearl Harbor.
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, knocking out the main American battle fleet, which was based on battleships. The attack was intended as a preventive strike that would keep the U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with military actions that the Empire of Japan was planning in Southeast Asia against overseas territories of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States. There were also simultaneous Japanese attacks on the U.S.-held Philippines and on the British Empire in Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
The attack began at 7:48 a.m. Hawaiian Time. The base was attacked by 353 Japanese fighters, bombers and torpedo planes in two waves, launched from six aircraft carriers. All eight U.S. Navy battleships were damaged, with four being sunk. All but one were later raised, and six of the eight battleships returned to service and fought in the war. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship, and one minelayer. 188 U.S. aircraft were destroyed. 2,402 Americans were killed and 1,282 were wounded. Important base installations such as the power station, shipyard, maintenance, fuel and torpedo storage facilities, submarine piers and headquarters building (home of the intelligence section) were not attacked.
Japanese losses were comparatively light: 29 aircraft and 5 midget submarines were lost, and 65 servicemen killed or wounded. One Japanese sailor was captured.
The attack came as a profound shock to the American people and led directly to the American entry into World War II in both the Pacific and European theaters. The following day (December 8), the United States declared war on Japan. Domestic support for non-interventionism, which had been strong disappeared.
The following day, Roosevelt called for war in his famous "Infamy Speech" to Congress, in which he said: "Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan." The lack of any formal warning, particularly while negotiations were still apparently ongoing, led President Franklin D. Roosevelt to proclaim December 7, 1941, "a date which will live in infamy". Roosevelt's speech had a unifying impact on the politics of the time. Thirty-three minutes after he finished speaking, Congress declared war on Japan, with only one Representative, Jeannette Rankin, voting against the declaration. The speech was broadcast live by radio and attracted the largest audience in US radio history, with over 81 percent of American homes tuning in to hear the President. The response was overwhelmingly positive, both within and outside of Congress. The White House was inundated with telegrams praising the president's stance. Recruiting stations were jammed with a surge of volunteers and had to go on 24-hour duty to deal with the crowds seeking to sign up.
The anti-war and isolationist movement collapsed in the wake of the speech, with even the president's fiercest critics falling into line. Charles Lindbergh, who had been a leading isolationist, declared: “ Now it [war] has come and we must meet it as united Americans regardless of our attitude in the past toward the policy our Government has followed. Our country has been attacked by force of arms, and by force of arms we must retaliate. We must now turn every effort to building the greatest and most efficient Army, Navy and Air Force in the world.”
In 1942 Roosevelt set up a new military command structure. Admiral Ernest J. King was appointed Chief of Naval Operations in complete control of the Navy and Marines. General George C. Marshall was put in charge of the Army and in nominal control of the Air Force. Roosevelt formed a new body, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, which made the final decisions on American military strategy. The Joint Chiefs was a White House agency and was chaired by Admiral William D. Leahy. Unlike the political leaders of the other major powers, Roosevelt rarely overrode his military advisers. No civilians, not even the secretaries of War or Navy, had a voice in military strategy. Roosevelt bypassed the State Department and conducted high level diplomacy through his aides, especially Harry Hopkins. Hopkins also controlled $50 billion in Lend Lease funds given to the Allies, and therefore had a great deal of credibility with the other Allied leaders.
After Pearl Harbor, antiwar sentiment in the United States evaporated. On December 11, 1941, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. Roosevelt and his military advisers implemented a war strategy with the objectives of halting the German advances in the Soviet Union and in North Africa, launching an invasion of western Europe with the aim of defeating Nazi Germany in two fronts, and on defeating Japan.
In the opening weeks of the war, Japan had conquered the Philippines, and the English and Dutch colonies in Southeast Asia, capturing Singapore in February 1942. The Japanese defeated the Allied Forces in Burma and advanced close to the borders of Bengal in India, cutting off the overland supply route to China.
Roosevelt met with Churchill in late December and planned an alliance among the U.S., Britain, China and the Soviet Union. This included Churchill's initial plan to invade North Africa and the plan of an invasion of western Europe. An agreement was also reached for a centralized command and offensive in the Pacific theater to save China and defeat Japan. But the first priority was the European offensive, much to Winston Churchill's satisfaction. On New Year's Day 1942, Roosevelt and Churchill issued what was called the "Declaration by United Nations", representing 26 countries in opposition to the Axis of Germany, Italy and Japan. And the rest, as they say, is history.