FDR’s Pearl Harbor Address

The word had come when the president was at lunch. It was Sunday, December 7, 1941. Sundays tended to be quiet in the Roosevelt White House. The president, a devout Episcopian, did not regularly attend church when he was in Washington. Noting, I can do almost anything in the goldfish bowl of the president's life, but I'll be hanged if I can say my prayers in it. And so he was in his second floor oval study, eating and chatting with his advisor Harry Hopkins in a room decorated with naval prints and model ships. He and Hopkins were discussing things far removed from the war when the secretary of the Navy rang with the news that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor at dawn Pacific time. This is the BBC Home Studies. Here is the news. Japan's long threatened aggression in the parties began tonight with air attacks on United States naval bases in the Pacific. Fresh reports are coming in every minute, the latest facts of the situation are lead. If it is from Tokyo, the Japan has announced a formal declaration of war against both United States and Britain. Winston Churchill was at dinner at checkers the Prime Minister's country retreat when he heard the news remarkably on the BBC. Churchill reached the White House by telephone. Mr. President, what's this about Japan? It's quite true, FDR replied, they have attacked us at Pearl Harbor. We are all in the same boat now. Churchill could not hide his feelings. This certainly simplifies things he told Roosevelt, "God be with you." FDR was in control or as in control as a commander in chief thousands of miles from the devastation could be. 2400 men would be killed on this day, another 1200 would be wounded and the American fleet would be crippled. Wearing an old sweater that belonged to his son James, the president went about his work. He directed troop movements with General George Marshall and coordinated diplomatic calls with Secretary of State Cordell Hull. At one point, while he was on the telephone, Roosevelt told those gathered in the White House, "My God, there's another wave of jet planes over Hawaii right this minute." On that Sunday, he would meet with congressional leaders and prepare to go to the nation on the next day, Monday, December 8th. Yesterday, December 7th, 1931, a date which will live in infamous United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. I'm John Meachung, and this is it was said, Episode 9, Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation. The story begins in many ways in March 1918, when Germany reached the extent of its powers in the Great War, extending its borders into Poland and Ukraine before losing those gains in the months leading to the armistice in November 1918. The war was over, but the German anxiety for more living space lived on. Like Italy, it was a fairly new nation-state coming into being in 1871. Italy was 1861. Seizing land to extend one's borders and/or influence was the standard undertaking of the imperial game of the age. As a British admiral said in 1934, neatly capturing the spirit of the time, we are in the remarkable position of not wanting to quarrel with anybody because we have got most of the world already, or the best parts of it, and we only want to keep what we have got and prevent others from taking it away from us. At all Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933, in the same season in which Franklin Roosevelt was sworn in as the 32nd president. Hitler's rise to power unfolded as isolationist sentiment in America deepened. Horn affairs were seen as entangling depleting distractions. Three neutrality acts were passed in 1935, 1936, and 1937, designed to keep Americans from openly supporting any belligerent nation. Roosevelt, however, was more internationalist in his outlook. He believed as he put it, that it was a very small world, and that the rise and spread of air power made the old idea of fortress America obsolete. Yet Roosevelt was one of the greatest politicians in American history. Public opinion mattered enormously to him. For he knew that democratic leadership required cultivation. A president could not get too far ahead of his followers, FDR said, for he might look back and find that no one was there. "I have said not once but many times that I have seen war and that I hate war. I hope the United States will keep out of this war. I believe that it will." Hitler's ambitions and intentions were not particularly mysterious. On November 9, 1938, he ordered crystal knot. By the last day of January 1939, FDR had become convinced, as he put it, that there was a policy of world domination between Germany, Italy, and Japan. Germany began a series of territorial grabs in Europe, getting away with one after another. And yet a core of the American public did not want to hear about it. In June 1940, polling showed that 64% of Americans believed it more important to stay out of war than to help England. These were the quarrels of other people far away. In August 1939, Hitler and Joseph Stalin concluded a mutual non-aggression pact, thus freeing Hitler to strike Poland and Westward, which he did, beginning on the first day of September 1939. That weekend Roosevelt told the country, "It is easy for you and for me to shrug our shoulders and say the conflicts taking place thousands of miles from the continental United States, and indeed thousands of miles from the whole American hemisphere, do not seriously affect the Americas. And that all the United States has to do is ignore them and go about its own business. Passionately though, we may desire detachment. We are forced to realize that every word that comes through the air, every ship that sails the sea, every battle that is fought, does affect the American future." Almost every American household was divided. Do you rise up and fight for freedom against fascistic taterships like those of Germany and Japan? Or do you say, "Let's stay out of it and America can be safe behind its ocean modes." That division persisted right up to the eve of Pearl Harbor. The attack came, but if Roosevelt had not given such a wonderful speech, the country would not have been almost completely united as it almost instantly was. This is the historian Michael Beschloss. Many Americans in 1940 had a bitter recent memory of Woodrow Wilson and World War I. They felt that Wilson had promised them that fighting in Europe, giving a lot of American lives, would make the world safe for democracy. And they looked at what happened in the 1920s and the 1930s, Hitler, Mussolini, the Imperial Japanese, there were many people in America who said, "We're not going to make that mistake again and sacrifice the lives of our sons for a war that will not do what was claimed." It was a country that had long been shaped by isolationism. The America First Movement, which campaigned against America's entering a war against Hitler's Germany, was a respectable force until the events of December 7th. Some John F. Kennedy sent the group a check for $100 and believe the work of the committee important. It was not a fringe movement. So Roosevelt had a really difficult job to get Americans to prepare for a war against Germany. in Japan. And at the same time, trying to overcome those memories of people who still remembered in 1917 when Woodrow Wilson had promised all sorts of things that never came to pass. May 1940 was a critical month. One of the most ruthless exhibitions of savagery the world has ever seen. Over 30,000 men, women, children, were killed in the space of 90 minutes. The only six months before Hitler had said, the new Reich has endeavored to continue the traditional friendship with Holland. The Dutch will not forget. On May 23, the historian Arthur Slazinger wrote in his journals, "The evasion of Holland and Belgium finally awoke me. Hitler is not a mere imperialist conqueror, somewhat nastier and gaudier than the Kaiser, but moved essentially by economic needs and governed by considerations of expediency. His war is not a war for markets and colonies. It is a revolution and a crusade. Hitler is the prophet of a new religion and like all prophets is out to convert or destroy. It is democracy or Nazism." On Wednesday, May 15, 1940, Winston Churchill wrote FDR, "As you are no doubt aware, the scene has darkened swiftly." Up to the present, Hitler is working with specialized units and tanks and air. The small countries are simply smashed up one by one like match wood. We must expect, though it is not yet certain, that Mussolini will hurry in to share the loot of civilization. We expect to be attacked here ourselves, both from the air and by parachute and airborne troops in the near future and are getting ready for them. If necessary, we shall continue the war alone and we are not afraid of that. But I trust you realize, Mr. President, that the voice and force of the United States may count for nothing if they are with hell too long. You may have a completely subjugated, nazified Europe established with astonishing swiftness, and the weight may be more than we can bear. And yet, and yet. Roosevelt did not believe America was ready to do very much for Britain. This view, however realistic, drove Churchill mad. "The course of Anglo-American relations will be smooth on the surface, but many people over here will express regret that they believe America is making the same mistakes that Britain made. For you must understand that the idea of America being a more help is a non-delizorant than as a fighting ally has been discarded, even by the author who advanced it originally. Maybe we shall hear some frank forthright talk across the Atlantic instead of rhetoric. What I doubt it." The Japanese meanwhile, ambitious to create what was called an imperial sphere of prosperity in the Pacific, plotted their moves. Japan has made war upon the United States without declaring it. Air planes presumably from aircraft carriers have attacked the great Pearl Harbor naval base on the island of Huahu in the Hawaiian Islands and have attacked Manara, capital of the Philippines." Now on the afternoon of December 7th, 1941, FDR turned his attention to framing the coming war for the country. He has prepared a speech himself. This was entirely written by Franklin Roosevelt, and it was a speech that he dictated to his secretary Grace Tully the night before. This is the historian Catherine Grace Katz, author of Daughters of Yalta, the Churchill's Roosevelt's and Harriman's, a story of love and war. He's been facing the pressure of some of his advisors like the Secretary of State who wants him to deliver a much longer type of address, a litany of the grievances against Japan to lay out this case for why war must be declared, but Roosevelt feels that that's not necessary. He feels that the evidence speaks for itself that what has happened is self-explanatory. As his secretary Grace Tully recalled, she was summoned at 5pm. He was alone seated before his desk on which there were two or three neat piles of notes containing the information of the past two hours. The telephone was close by his hand. He was lighting a cigarette as I entered the room. He took a deep drag and addressed me calmly. "Sit down Grace, I'm going before Congress tomorrow. I'd like to dictate my message. It will be short." He began, tell it recalled, with the same calm tone in which he dictated his mail. Only his diction was a little different as he spoke each word incisively and slowly, carefully specifying each punctuation mark and paragraph. Yesterday, comma, December 7th, 1941, dash, a day which will live in world history dash. The United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan period paragraph. Roosevelt would make one crucial edit. World history became infamy. And Harry Hopkins suggested one addition. "With confidence in our arm passes with the unfounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph so help us burn." The speech is indeed brief only a few minutes long, and that was by design. Cordell Hold, the Secretary of State, had sent in a longer version, but FDR, who donned his Brooks Brothers Navy cape for the journey to Capitol Hill, believed brevity was called for. The next day, he stood at the podium of the House of Representatives. At 1230 on December 8th, 1941, Franklin Roosevelt arrives to deliver what will become some of the most resonant and iconic words that he will ever deliver in his career. He is arrived to ask Congress to declare war on Japan. And he clearly has history on his mind that day. And the importance not just of his own legacy, but the legacy of the American presidency, in a sense. Because he's asked Edith Wilson, President Woodrow Wilson, the president during the First World War, to accompany his wife, Eleanor, to Congress that afternoon to listen to the speech. And it really is important, I think, that she is there. It's also very important to Roosevelt that he projects as much strength physically as he can. He has been crippled by polio for many years, and while he is usually sitting in a wheelchair, there are very few photographs of him sitting. And he wants to project this outward image of strength. So he must hurt all the strength that he has and puts on these heavy, painful metal leg braces. And he, using the leg braces and support, he's able to walk forward towards the podium and grips on to the two sides of the podium as strongly as he can for six and a half minutes, while he delivers this speech, this request for a declaration of war. Mr. President, let's speak up. Members of the Senate, of the House of Representatives. Yesterday, December 7, 1931, a date which will live in infamous United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. The United States with a peace with that nation, and at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its government and its emperor, looking for the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time, the Japanese government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace. He did not sugarcoat the situation. The losses had been severe. America needed to hear that. The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian island has caused severe damage to American, neighbor, and military forces. I regret to tell you that very many American lives have been long. In addition, American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu. Yesterday, the Japanese government also launched an attack against Malaya. Last night Japanese buses attacked Hong Kong. Last night Japanese buses attacked Guam. Last night Japanese buses attacked the Philippine island. Last night the Japanese attacked weak island. And this morning the Japanese attacked Midway Island. The text of yesterday and today speak for themselves. He promised action. This was part of his gift of leadership. Always show movement, will, and progress. He had done it in the Great Depression, and now he would do the same in World War. Now, Marahalong, it may take us wherever come this premeditated invasion. The Americans people in the righteous might will win through to absolute victory. And then the business at hand. I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people. When I assert that we will not only depend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again end danger of. I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and desperately attacked by Japan on Sunday December 7th, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire. The speech was straightforward. In this, the text reflected the task the nation faced. It was no time if they are believed to dwell on the past. The crisis was what it was and his rhetoric reflected the salinity of the occasion and his determination to move forward with determination and with dispatch. To his wife who watched from the gallery, I think it was steadying to know finally that the die was cast, Eleanor Roosevelt recalled. One could no longer do anything but face the fact that this country was in a war. From here on, difficult and dangerous as the future looked, it presented a clearer challenge than the long uncertainty of the past. Hitler clarified the struggle on Thursday December 11th, declaring war on the United States. Until then, passions in America had been directed not at Europe, but at Asia. Now the war would be total and global. On the evening of the day, FDR addressed Congress, two of his advisors, Robert Sherwood and Samuel Rosenman, left the White House after dark. Rosenman recalled, "There had been wild rumors about a German air attack to be launched from submarines and many cities in the United States had already instituted blackouts. The lamp that usually lit up the White House on the Pennsylvania Avenue side of the mansion had been shut off." Two Sherwood, Rosenman said, "I wonder how long it will be before that light gets turned on again." "I don't know," Sherwood replied, "but until it does, the lights will stay turned off all over the world. That light has been the only ray of hope to millions of people. And those millions will still look to this house and to that man and inside it as their only hope of deliverance." On the next episode of it was said season two, Eleanor Roosevelt champions the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a foundational document proclaiming that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. Thank you for listening to It Was Said Season Two, a creation and production of C-13 originals at Cadence 13 Studio in association with the History Channel, executive produced by me John Meacham and Chris Corcoran of Cadence 13, written and narrated by me John Meacham, production led by Margo Gray, edited, mixed and mastered by Chris Basel, production coordination, research, support, and consultation by Lloyd Lockridge, Bill Schultz, Sean Cherry, and Bob Tabidor. Marketing PR sales operations and business affairs led by Mora Curran, Josephina Francis, Kirk Courtney, Hilary Schuff, Lauren Vieira, Lucas Centroen, Bill Schultz, Lizzie Roberty, Danny Kutrick, and Karen Andrews. Creative consultation by Eli Lerrer and Jesse Katz of the History Channel. Our theme song is "I Can Almost See You" by Hammock. Our closing credits theme song is "Light" by Michael Kiwanuka. Cadence 13 is an Odyssey company. ♪ One half and a row to the end ♪ ♪ Turn your life ♪ ♪ Turn your life to the end ♪ ♪ All the might be ♪ ♪ All the might be the God that you God God ♪ ♪ And it's all by me ♪ ♪ It's all by me, it's all by me ♪ ♪ It's all destiny ♪ ♪ Do by the wrong ♪ ♪ All on all of us ♪ ♪ Do by the wrong ♪ ♪ You're like me ♪ ♪ My only son ♪ ♪ You know it's time ♪ ♪ For me ♪ ♪ Turn your life ♪ ♪ Turn your life over ♪ ♪ All the might be the God that you God God ♪