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How Did President Roosevelt Know About The Attack On Pearl Harbor

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“Yesterday, December 7, 1941¬¬¬¬ --a date which will live in infamy…” was how President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed the nation the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor was a devastating blow to American’s concept of safety and drew the United States into war against Germany and Japan. However, many historians question the events leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor. Gordon Prange, Thomas Bailey and Paul Rayan and Richard Thornton all give different perspectives on the events of Pearl Harbor answering the questions: Did President Roosevelt know about the attack? Was President Roosevelt ready for war? Was there information suggesting that Pearl Harbor might be attacked? Did President Roosevelt know about the attack on Pearl …show more content…

Thornton states that President Roosevelt knew that the war was inevitable but that he wanted Japan to fire the first shot. He knew that if he brought the country into the war, he would not have the support of the American people. He used Pearl Harbor as a reason for our country to go to war. Baily and Ryan believe that President Roosevelt did not want to go to war with the Japanese because it would hamper the lend-lease program which was aiding in the fight against Germany. They argue that President Roosevelt did not want to go to war before he had managed to build up long-range bombers. They believed that he need more time to build a better navy to support going to war. However Prange believes that the US was not ready for war. On October 28, 1941, after Stimson replied no to a telagraph asking if he would like to officially declare war on Japan. He believed it was an opportunity to strengthen US presences in the Philippines and would prevent the Japanese from taking Singapore. When the Japanese proposed their Novemeber 20th agreement agreeing only to take troops out of Southern Indochina, Hull did not quickly refuse this proposal even though he found it ridicules. He knew the US needed more time to prepare the defensives before war and was hoping to prolong going to

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