3. Roosevelt Scandal
- Roosevelt withheld the location of the Japanese from Pearl Harbor Officials and the fact that negotiating had ended with Japan (Grapes 70).
- Roosevelt made the US look weak in order to provoke the attack on Pearl Harbor (Grapes 70).
- Roosevelt decided to cut off all supplies to Japan causing turmoil in Japan in August of 1941 (Willmott 19).
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Roosevelt humiliated the Japanese Ambassador by refusing to meet with Premier Konoye on October 16th ignoring his messages (Alger 29).
- Roosevelt denied Hawaii defense such as a torpedo net and artillery defense (Grapes 65).
- Roosevelt mislead the United States by presenting distorted versions of German attacks to the people (Grapes 40).
- False info was sent to Hawaii about which direction Japanese carriers and planes were going (Alger 25).
- Roosevelt went back on his promise never to send Americans into the war in Europe (Young 50).
- Roosevelt met with Winston Churchill who informed him of Japanese advances toward the US (Stinnett 120).
- Roosevelt disregarded information because he wanted to join the war against Germany with Britain (Stinnett 142).
- Hitler did not want any trouble with the US ( Stinnett 120)
- The Greer Incident – Germany fired a torpedo hitting an American ship. Apologizes were sent the next day saying the officer who shot the torpedo flagrantly disobeyed the high commander. Roosevelt recounted to the people that Germany had meant to hit the ship (Grapes 40).
- An American ship got between British and German fire and was hit. Roosevelt told the people that it was a deliberate attack by Germany on the United States (Grapes 40).
C. Evaluation of Sources
Stinnett, Robert. Day of Deceit the truth about FDR and Pearl Harbor. New York: The Free Press, 2000.
This book deals with FDR and the attack on Pearl Harbor. Robert Stinnett served in the United States Navy from 1942-1946 earning 10 battle stars and a Presidential unit citation. As a major navy official Stinnett studied journalism and WWII extensively during his college years. The purpose of his book is to show the overwhelming evidence that FDR knew about the attack on Pearl Harbor. The value of this book is that it gives detailed information from different sources about FDR and his involvement with the attack on Pearl Harbor. A limitation could be that Stinnett did not serve at Pearl Harbor during the attack and the book is a biased account that FDR was responsible.
D. Analysis
Pearl Harbor was not prepared for the attack on December 7, Th but if US officials had decoded the fourteenth part of the intercepted message and secretary Hull had not delayed passing the knowledge to Pearl Harbor, the military would have been able to defend itself from attack (Willmott 20). With prior knowledge of the attack, officials at Pearl Harbor could have called men back to duty to man planes, unlock ammunition, and defend the Harbor. Once the information had been passed to Pearl Harbor other nearby bases could have been prepared as well.
Even though it was commonly thought an attack from a distance from 4000 miles, was impossible US Navy intelligence had information that showed such an attack was a real possibility (Willmott 20). Early warning signs of a Japanese attack were ignored. If sufficient attention had been paid to the war party taking over the government in Japan or Japan’s press becoming, strident the US could have tried to negotiate with Japan or prepared US bases for Japanese advances (Alger 40). If FDR had not disregarded the warning signs from great Brittan that the Japanese were planning an attack, then an alert could have been given to the officials at Pearl Harbor (Devany 40).
If President Roosevelt had not ignored Edgar J. Hoover when he found information about Japanese espionage on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese spy, Tadashi Morimura would not have been able to prepare bomb plots of the Pearl Harbor navel base showing which warships were present, grid coordinates for Pearl Harbor, and anchorage areas (Stinnett 140). If this information had not been recorded by the Japanese and sent to Tokyo, then the Japanese would not have had accurate information to plan a coordinated attack.
To some, Roosevelt appeared to be a good man with good intentions for the US, but those who saw through him saw him for who he really was. He was a man who tried to cover up the fact that he knew about the attack on Pearl Harbor. If he had not deliberately withheld information, instigated Japan into an attack, and misled the American people the attack on Pearl Harbor may have been prevented or at least met by a defensive force.
If Roosevelt had not withheld the location of the Japanese carriers, aircrafts, and the direction in which they were advancing, Pearl Harbor could have prepared itself for an attack (Grapes 70). In August of 1941 President Roosevelt met with Winston Churchill who informed him that Japanese planes were going to strike against the United States (Stinnett 120). If President Roosevelt listened to what Churchill was telling him then he could have alerted the government at Pearl Harbor. Roosevelt disregarded this information because he wanted the attack to take place to get in to the war against Hitler (Stinnett 121). If Roosevelt had not provoked a war with Japan then Hitler would have thought the United States was too strong and Hitler would have never joined forces with Japan against the United States (Stinnett 120). If Roosevelt had not made the US look weak by denying intelligence to Hawaii, then Pearl Harbor would have had a chance to protect itself from Japanese advances. Further more President Roosevelt placed an embargo on all raw materials to Japan (Willmott 19). If Roosevelt had not cut off this vital supply of materials to Japan, Japan would not have become irate and desperate for resources and could have decided no to got to war against the US.
Not only did Roosevelt pressure Japan into an attack, but he also went back on his word and mislead the government and American people. If President Roosevelt had not misled the American people in speeches that were given regarding accidents happening between the United States and Germany the US would have not felt so harsh towards Germany (Grapes 40). If the US did not feel so harsh against Germany then they may have not backed Roosevelt when he decided to go to war and the U.S would not have entered WWII.
E. Conclusion
Based on the evidence presented in my analysis the attack on Pearl Harbor was not a surprise to President Roosevelt. Many officials including the President knew about that the attack on Pearl Harbor would happen before December 7th. This is because of direct and indirect warning signs that were presented to United States officials only to be disregarded and ignored. Indirect warnings came from Japan through the press and military changes, while direct warnings came from leaders such as Churchill and United States navy officials. The warnings were disregarded. The fourteen part message was fully decoded two days after interception because it was done at a leisurely pace. It was done at a leisurely pace because no officials were on alert and searching for when and if an attack would take place against the United States. All because all the warning signs were overlooked by major officials an attack on Pearl Harbor took place but if the warnings were properly assessed then Pearl Harbor may have had a chance to defend itself from Japanese advances.
F. Works Cited
Alger, Derek. “The Truth about Pearl Harbor.” Freelancewriter 15 April 2002: 1-15
Devany, John. Franklin Delano Roosevelt. New York: Walker and Company, 1987.
Grapes, Bryan. Franklin D. Roosevelt. San Diego: Green Haven, 2001.
Lord, Walter. Day of Infamy. New York: Anton, 1957.
Stinnett, Robert. Day of Deceit the truth about FDR and Pearl Harbor. New York: The Free Press, 2000.
Willmott, H.P. Pearl Harbor. New York: Galahad, 1981.
Young, Brigadier. The World Almanac Book of World War II. Clifton: World Almanac Publications, 1981.
