And the President scheduled emergency meetings with his Cabinet and Congressional leaders for that evening.ĭuring the meeting, FDR took a call from British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who had just heard a radio news bulletin about the attack. The group also discussed a presidential message to Congress. commander there, had been alerted about the Pearl Harbor attack. Marshall assured FDR that Douglas MacArthur, the U.S. Months of rising tension about Japan had, at last, been resolved.Ĭoncerns were raised about reports of a Japanese strike on the Philippines. Some participants recalled that, despite a sense of shock and loss, the mood was calm and deliberate. At several points, FDR dictated short news updates to Early. Roosevelt’s naval aide, Captain John Beardall, Press Secretary Stephen Early, and presidential secretaries Marvin McIntyre and Grace Tully stood by to assist.ĭuring the conference news kept arriving detailing more damage to the fleet. Marshall and Secretary of State Cordell Hull. Secretary of War Henry Stimson and Navy Secretary Frank Knox arrived first. He hoped to avoid, or at least delay, any conflict with Japan.Īt 3:05 p.m.-while Pearl Harbor was still under attack-FDR convened a meeting of key military and diplomatic advisers in his Study. He viewed Nazi Germany as a greater security threat and was waging an undeclared naval war with Hitler’s U-boats in the North Atlantic. While continuing negotiations, they began secret preparations for war should talks fail. Japan’s leaders faced a choice-end their aggression or confront the United States. Roosevelt and his advisers knew they were risking war, but hoped Japan would back down. Without American oil, Japan’s military would soon grind to a halt. and imposing economic sanctions, including an oil embargo. FDR responded by freezing Japanese assets in the U.S. But in July, Japan-emboldened by its mutual defense treaty with Germany and Hitler’s conquest of France-occupied southern French Indo-China. In early 1941, the two nations had begun negotiations to resolve their differences. In May 1940, seeking to deter further Japanese aggression, FDR ordered the Pacific Fleet to Hawaii. The root of the conflict was Japan’s brutal military expansion in China and Southeast Asia during the 1930s. But FDR and the nation had been anticipating a possible military clash with Japan for months. The Pearl Harbor attack was a massive shock. They ended with one of his finest moments. The next 24 hours were among the most dramatic and consequential of Franklin Roosevelt’s long presidency. and global history.įive thousand miles away, in Washington, D.C., news of the disaster left officials reeling.
It would prove to be a decisive turning point in U.S. The surprise attack shocked the nation and instantly plunged it into World War II.
Over 2,400 military personnel and civilians were dead. In two hours, they destroyed or damaged 21 ships-including 8 battleships-and more than 300 aircraft. As stunned sailors and soldiers struggled to react, the aircraft unleashed a massive barrage that devastated the fleet. Nearly 200 Japanese warplanes descended from the skies without warning. the calm of this Sunday morning was suddenly shattered. Nearby, at military airfields, hundreds of planes rested, wingtip-to-wingtip, on the tarmac.īut at 7:55 a.m. At the Pearl Harbor naval base on the island of Oahu, most of the U.S. Dawn arrived quietly in Hawaii on December 7, 1941.
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