Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
THE WHITE HOUSE
Washington, D.C.
T O P S E C R E T – E Y E S O N L Y
EXECUTIVE ORDER
Date: December 7, 1941
To Members of the Cabinet and Secretaries of the Army and Navy
From: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Commander-in-Chief
Subject: Japanese Empire Attack on Pearl Harbor
As you are keenly aware, the Empire of Japan attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii Territory earlier this morning, killing and injuring thousands of American soldiers and sailors as well as numerous civilians; however, the casualties continue to be counted at this point but I will keep you apprised of any new developments. In sum, much of the U.S. Pacific Fleet has been devastated, with many ships sank outright or seriously damaged. The attack did spare our now-priceless aircraft carriers which happened to be at sea when the attack occurred. The sneak attack by Japan has been confirmed by numerous official U.S. and allied sources and the reports are regarded as completely credible at this point. In other words, gentlemen, we are at war for all intents and purposes, lacking only a formal declaration by the U.S. Congress.
Let me be absolutely clear from the outset on this matter. It is my unwavering and absolute intention that the United States will win this war against Japan and any other nations that would threaten our democracy through to absolute victory, and let no one, friend or foe, turn us aside from this ultimate objective. Although we have experienced serious and meaningful debate in recent months concerning whether the United States should...
Nevertheless, the Japanese Empire has struck the first blow in this war and the die is cast. This means that the United States holds the moral high ground, at least, and if ever there was a just war, the one we find ourselves now engaged in is certainly just such a conflict. The naval base at Pearl Harbor will be rebuilt bigger and better than ever, of course, but the damage to the country has already been done and there is no turning back now.
We should not underestimate our foe. The Empire of Japan has demonstrated its ability to project its military might throughout Asia, and its troops are battle-hardened and fanatical in their devotion to the Japanese homeland and their emperor. It is my understanding that members of the Japanese armed forces are not only willing to die for their country, they are eager to do so because there is no more honorable death to the Japanese people and troops that die fighting Japan’s enemies are regarded as immortal national heroes. In other words, we have a real fight on our hands.
While I expect the sneak attack by Japan to infuriate the American public as much as it has me and any anti-war sentiments will…
References
Hopkins, J. (2014, Fall). The Hopkins touch: Harry Hopkins and the forging of the Alliance to defeat Hitler. The Historian, 76(3), 603-605.
Kaplan, M. A. (2000, October). Why Roosevelt wanted Japan to attack Pearl Harbor. The World and I, 15(10, 288.
McInerney, T. J. (2012, Winter). FDR goes to war: How expanded executive power, spiraling national debt, and restricted civil liberties shaped wartime America. The Historian, 74(4), 831-835.
Okerstrom, D. R. (2017, Summer). Target Tokyo: Jimmy Doolittle and the raid that avenged Pearl Harbor. The Historian, 79(2), 353-355.
Rearden, S. L. (2012). Council of war: A history of the joint chiefs of staff. Washington, DC: Office of the Director, Joints Chiefs of Staff.
Pearl Harbor & 911 Similarities and Differences: Pearl Harbor and 9/11 Sixty years separate two of the most infamous events in American history. Both the terrorist attacks on 9/11 and the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor were defining moments that altered the course of history. Both caught the country by surprise, rallied its people against their attackers and engendered a long and difficult war against tyranny. The surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on
Though Kimmel himself states that there had been submarine activity around the Islands, there were no actions taken against them as he was waiting for approval from Department of Navy, in the ten days preceding the attack to act decisively. "For some time there had been reports of submarines in the operating areas around Hawaii.... The files of the Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet, contain records of at least three
S. was that non-interference of the U.S. In the war, leaving it to the Europeans was the best thing to do. Thus there was no urgency felt in creating armaments. Thus in 1940 the armed strength was "only 150,000 men" (Gailey, 1995) and the generals believed that any future war could be fought and won with artillery and infantry and providing air support and they argued that "tanks and airplanes
CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS The Cuban Missile Crisis (CMC) presented a different type of military intelligence than Pearl Harbor did. In the case of CMC, military intelligence provided tremendous amounts of valuable and incontrovertible evidence. However, that information has to be viewed in the larger context of the times to understand why the United States government viewed the situation as seriously as they did. The United States had been actively but covertly working
Pearl Harbor as an Intelligence Failure Several writers and intellectuals express that the shock the Japanese got in their attack on Pearl Harbor was a result from a failure of the United States intelligence community that were unsuccessful to give sufficient, correct information to government as well as to the military decision-makers. As presumed by these historians the intelligence community contained very important information that was misconstrue or in other words
Pearl Harbor attack had a number of significant implications for the course of the Second World War. The attack was initiated by the Japanese, who had imperial ambitions for the entire Pacific. The U.S. had enacted an embargo on Japanese goods in response to Japanese aggression in Indochina and by 1941 it was evident that Japan was anticipating the possibility of war with either Britain or the U.S. The U.S.