FDR and the Pearl Harbor attack

"When Franklin Roosevelt died during the closing days of World War II, it fell to Truman to end the war and formulate policies for a new world order."
–The Smithsonian Treasury: The Presidents, 1991

Franklin Delano Roosevelt is much loved and revered by Democrats, but not everyone felt that way during his administration. In 1935, Arthur Henning of the Chicago Tribune said, "The New Deal will bring the Communist Party within striking distance of overthrow of the American form of government. ..." In the same year, Mark Sullivan of the Buffalo Evening News was even more alarmed when he said, "... The New Deal is to America what the early phase of Nazism was to Germany."

For those of us who have invested our time to research world events and what FDR did domestically, that man is hardly someone to admire or hold in high regard. Not only did FDR stomp on the U.S. Constitution, he wanted the Japanese to attack America while concealing his plans from the American people. One shouldn't believe everything they read in a book, but in the case of "Day of Deceit: The Truth about FDR and Pearl Harbor" by Robert B. Stinnett, there can be no denying the awful truth that FDR not only knew the Japanese were going to attack, but official documents prove FDR wanted them to strike America first.

Stinnett spent 16 years doing his research and fighting in the courts to obtain a plethora of shocking documents under the Freedom of Information Act – their authenticity cannot be denied. This link to a .pdf file provides a few of the official documents, i.e., "It (official document) directs the Hawaiian U.S. Army commander, Lt. Gen. Walter Short, to follow an official U.S. government desire: 'The United States desires that Japan commit the first overt act.'"

Pearl Harbor was no surprise. "Day of infamy," indeed.

While Stinnett should be commended for his commitment to expose the truth and help clear the names of those military officers wrongly blamed, I was shocked by his comment on page 259: "As heinous as it seems to families and veterans of World War II, of which the author is one, the Pearl Harbor attack was, from the White House perspective, something that had to be endured in order to stop a greater evil – the Nazi invaders in Europe who had begun the Holocaust and were poised to invade England."

There were 2,403 Americans who died at Pearl Harbor. According to Stinnett, who backs up FDR, those 2,403 Americans were acceptable casualties in order to take America into war. Stinnett goes on to say (same page), "Had the facts uncovered in this book been known immediately after the war ended, and had Roosevelt explained his war strategies and tactics to the families who lost their sons at Pearl Harbor, how different American history might be viewed today."

I feel confident in saying that the families of those 2,403 Americans slaughtered at Pearl Harbor with the full knowledge of a sitting president of the United States would not have been very understanding. I was further shocked by Stinnett's next comments (same page), "The truth that has been told here does not diminish FDR's magnificent contributions to the American people. His legacy should not be tarnished by the truth. As with all American presidents, Roosevelt must be viewed in the total context of his administration, not just Pearl Harbor." Quite frankly, I would be ashamed to say such a thing.

Allowing Japan to "commit the first overt act" – military aggression against America on our own soil – can hardly be called anything but murder. The American people deserved to be told the truth by FDR and what he was planning. Instead, those whose loved ones in uniform at Pearl Harbor that were to be sacrificed were never given any warning. They were simply slaughtered on a beautiful Sunday morning. But, it wasn't FDR or his Cabinet who would be on the battlefield. It was the sons, husband, fathers and brothers out in America who would spill their blood. Shouldn't they have been told the truth? Instead, unsuspecting Americans were sold a grotesque lie.

There is no question that Adolf Hitler had to be stopped; he was a monster. While people of the Jewish faith were the primary target of Hitler, more than 3 million Poles and other Gentiles also perished during the Holocaust, including a million Catholics, all verified by meticulous records kept by the Germans.(1) Had Hitler not gotten the help he needed from certain heads of state and influential families behind the scenes, and had the rest of Europe not sat around on their hands while the Third Reich was building power, Hitler could have been stopped.

While I'm certain many will disagree, I don't believe the White House and our State Department did everything in their power diplomatically to garner the immense forces in Europe to stand against Hitler without war because it wasn't in the best interests of the international banking cartel who have owned Washington, D.C., since 1913. We should never forget any man, woman or child, regardless of religion or ethnic origin, who died under the Third Reich. We should also never forget what FDR did and then covered up – along with 11 U.S. presidents since his administration.

(1) See Michael Berenbaum, ed., "A Mosaic of Victims: Non-Jews Persecuted and Murdered by the Nazis" (New York/London, 1990), David Rousset, "The Other Kingdom" (New York, 1947), 13-14 and Richard C. Lukas, "The Polish Experience During the Holocaust," in "A Mosaic of Victims," Michael Berenbaum, ed. (New York/London, 1990), 89.