Did FDR know Pearl Harbor was to be attacked?

Question

I've been reading a lot about this lately and have to say some of the evidence is compelling. In fact when you take it all at face value it's hard to conceive that he could NOT have known. Many believe he allowed Japan to strike as a pre-text for getting the US into the war against Germany. It does make sense, yet the thought is still very disturbing. What do you think?

One little nugget to consider: On November 25 1941 Secretary of War Stimson wrote in his diary that FDR said an attack was likely within days, and asked "how we should maneuver them into the position of firing the first shot without too much danger to ourselves. In spite of the risk involved, however, in letting the Japanese fire the first shot, we realized that in order to have the full support of the American people it was desirable to make sure that the Japanese be the ones to do this so that there should remain no doubt in anyone's mind as to who were the aggressors.

Also consider the US was not interested in getting into another European conflict. Had Hitler not declared war after PH, God only knows how far he could have gone before we had to fight him. It is safe to assume the US would not have declared war first. Did Hitler walk into a trap we baited with an initial defeat?

Answer 1

Any author who knows all the facts about the Pearl Harbor attack can cleverly emphasise half of it, and soft-pedal the other half, to make a credulous reader believe anything the author would like them to believe. You should read LOTS of different authors before making up your mind.

Fact: the whole U.S. government and senior military knew damned well that the Japanese were going to declare war soon. Quite a few of them knew exactly when, through codebreaking. But they still didn't know what their first hostile act would be.

Fact: the Japanese instructed their ambassador in Washington to hand over a declaration of war, about half an hour before the attack. They didn't tell him about the attack, or why the timing was important, so he actually messed it up and handed it over an hour later, but anyway it was the Japs who declared war. And that was war whether their attack succeeded or failed, so any supposed U.S. conspiracy to let the attack succeed is pointless, because it would not have made any difference to the war status.

Answer 2

No, I don't believe FDR had foreknowledge of a specific attack on Pearl Harbour. Here's why, in no particular order-

1. There was no precedent for an attack from such a long range. The Japanese themselves were surprised they pulled it off. US intelligence was remiss in not thinking the unthinkable, but it was negligence rather than a deliberate act.

2. If the Japanese fleet was ambushed, wouldn't that make FDR look good, and commence hostilities with Japan in any case? At least they could have had the battle ships at sea!

3. The Flying Tigers were already at war on behalf of the US in China. German U-boats had already sunk US ships. Lend-lease was already in full swing. Do the conspiracy theorists actually think that US public would just accept U-boats sinking US registered ships indefinitely? Or that the US Navy wouldn't mind Axis warships lurking near Halifax or Vancouver?

Manila was already braced for a Japanese attack. The tide of public opinion had already turned against the isolationists in 1940. So the US entry into the war was already a matter of when; not if, in 1941.

4. Japan actually attempted to declare war on the US before the Pearl Harbour attack (although very shortly before), but the message was delayed during translation. So Pearl Harbour or no Pearl Harbour the US was at war with Japan. A declaration of war is kind of difficult for the conspiracy theorists to explain away. It's not as if Japan went to war with the US just because Pearl Harbour happened to be vulnerable.

5. FDR was a man of integrity.

Answer 3

I think there were OVERWHELMING signs that the Japanese were going to attack us, and that Pearl Harbor was a likely target. The fact that more precautions were not taken to prevent it is a little unbelieveable. Even if they didn't know for sure, common sense says they should have done things like not bunch planes up together on runways and keeping all of their ships in a harbor that could be totally blocked by the sinking of one ship in the channel. HOWEVER, I think most Americans really didn't believe it was possible for us to be attacked on our own soil. Maybe a little arrogance and ignorance got in the way of good decision making.

Answer 4

I don't think he knew exactly when the Japanese were going to attack and where. No one did, though there was every indication something emanate was going to happen. I don't buy the agreement what happen on 12/7/41 was to get the US to make war against Hitler. The US program of Lend-Lease to England had been going on for awhile. Quite a few of our ships and merchant marines were lost to the U-Boats while cross the Atlantic.

Answer 5

A Japanese attack, yes: somewhere. That was all intelligence summed up indicated. Remember, communications were not the same those days, as today! If the target was known to be Pearl Hr., history of the war would be different!

Answer 6

We knew the Japanese were going to bomb Pearl Harbor before they did. I mean come-on President Roosevelt liked the thought of our boys baking inside the Battle Ship Arizona before they died. The President was looking for a better way to get a good nights sleep.

OTHER CONSPIRACIES TO THINK ABOUT:

1. The Jews did not suffer in Germany because there was no Holocaust. Actually it was the Jews that was torturing the poor blond haired deprived Germans. Those tattoos on the Jews arms and hands that are still alive today (by the grace of God) are really there because they want to be hip.

2. America did not land on the Moon. We payed billions of dollars for the 360 foot Saturn 5 rocket so we could look at it and say wow that is a big rocket. We kept approx. 400,000 technicians, scientists and construction contractors quiet, with zero leaks to the public. The rocks that we thought that came from moon and have proved to be from the moon are really from the Pacific Ocean.

3. The Mafia whacked JFK, via the Russian connection, via the Cuban connection.... The man on the grassy knoll was a CIA agent acting on orders from Giancana from Chicago and Marcello from New Orleans, with duplicity from Castro and Kruschev....true story.

4. Aliens landed in Roswell and we transported them to Area 51 to back engineer their technology, where do you think the stealth air craft came from? Again, we kept it secret by brain washing the thousands of workers who were in on the scam.

5. The Moon we see every night is really not there along with the planets, stars as well as the Planet Killing Asteroids. Those were put there by the evil United States to toy with our minds.

6. The fossils of homo eructus, neandertals and 15 other hominids that are extinct were put there by paleotologists, archeologists, and assorted rock hounds to enhance their careers. Creationism is the only reality.

7. America is a conspiracy and is a fake country and none of us Americans really live here.

8. I was never born so this response to your question is a fake.

Answer 7

He knew a jap attack become impending, yet no longer the position and at the same time as precisely. it will be Pearl Harbor or the Philippines. It become major that Japan struck the first blow contained in the conflict, yet that would not ability Roosevelt become prepared to sacrifice the Pacific Fleet only for that. So certain, he become likely conscious of the prospect of a jap attack. yet no longer the position. and not in any respect at the same time as. Had the US intense command widely used for particular it would want to be Pearl, for sure they could have placed it on intense alert.

Answer 8

did he know exactly when and where ... we may never know, but they wre aware that the japanese intended to attack us interests. at the time the us was an isolationalist country that had just fought a great war in europe and wanted no part in another... fdr and others in washington wanted the us in teh war to help jump start the economy and bring the us out of the depression.

Answer 9

Yes he knew but didn't expect the losses. He thought that Hawaii was better defended. He didn't take any chances with our most expensive capital ships - the carriers. Them he had on maneuvers away from Pearl.

Answer 10

Actually they had been for warned several times and took it as misinformation since the Japanese had just been to Washington trying to negotiate peace ..