President Roosevelt knew in late November 1941 that the Japanese Navy would attack American forces in early December, but he failed to warn American military commanders in the Pacific. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was the 32nd president of the United States of America, serving from 1933-1945. He was born on January 30, 1882, and lived for 63 years until his death on April 12, 1945. He became the only president to serve three terms. Well, he really served three terms and three months of a fourth term. According to Wikipedia, “Roosevelt won a third term by defeating Republican nominee Wendell Willkie in the 1940 United States presidential election. He remains the only president to serve for more than two terms.” This man served for almost twice as long as any other president in the history of the United States of America. It is really quite impressive that he was able to do this. According to Wikipedia, “Franklin Delano Roosevelt, commonly known as FDR, was an American statesman and politician who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. He was a member of the Democratic Party and is the only U.S. president to have served more than two terms.” What is he best known for? According to Wikipedia, “He created numerous programs to provide relief to the unemployed and farmers while seeking economic recovery with the National Recovery Administration and other programs. He also instituted major regulatory reforms related to finance, communications, and labor, and presided over the end of Prohibition.” He was also president during the Great Depression and World War II. That means that, of course, he was president when the bombing of Pearl Harbor occurred and caused America to join Word War II. It is said that he knew in late November in the year 1941 that the Japanese Navy would attack American forces in early December that same year, but he failed to warn American military commanders in the Pacific. The dating in this accusation is accurate, because the Japanese did attack Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. However, did President Roosevelt know about the attack and failed to warn American military commanders in the Pacific? I will hopefully be able to answer that question by the end of this essay.
On December 7, 1941, Japan managed to stage a surprise attack on America’s Pacific fleet located at Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. This attack completely destroyed the US’s Pacific fleet, making the Japanese successful in the attack. The military commanders in the Pacific had no idea of the attack until it was too late. The Japanese decimated the fleet. If the commanders in the Pacific had any idea that the Japanese would be attacking, the attack might have had a different outcome. It is said that President Roosevelt knew in late November that the Japanese would attack American forces in the Pacific in early December, however, he failed to warn military commanders in the Pacific. If this is true, then how did he know the Japanese would attack? And if so, how did he fail to warn military commanders in the Pacific? Did the message just not get there in time? Did he just chose not to warn them? There are several possible answers to these questions, and hopefully I will be able to answer them correctly by the end of this essay.
Did President Roosevelt know in late November that the Japanese would attack in early December? Actually, yes. The United States did know in late November, early December that the Japanese would attack. According to tamucc.edu, “So, the US Government did know about the attack on Pearl Harbor and it tried to cover up the knowledge of it. But let’s not forget that they did not just know about the attack from the Japanese, but that they instigated Japan into attacking the US.” So, the United States knew that the Japanese would attack the US in early December, however, how do we know this is accurately true? According to Independent Institute, “On November 25, 1941 Japan’s Admiral Yamamoto sent a radio message to the group of Japanese warships that would attack Pearl Harbor on December 7. Newly released naval records prove that from November 17 to 25 the United States Navy intercepted eighty-three messages that Yamamoto sent to his carriers.” So we know that the US really did know that the Japanese would attack, which meant that President Roosevelt knew.
How did President Roosevelt know that the Japanese would attack? I literally just told you, if you remember the last paragraph. On the date December 25, 1941, the Admiral Yamamoto of Japan sent a radio message to the Japanese fleet of warships that would attack Pearl Harbor on December 7, and America intercepted these transmissions, however, they only got enough information to know that Japan would attack, America did not know when, or even where the Japan navy would attack. Naval records that were recently released prove that the United States have intercepted eighty-three messages that Yamamoto sent to the fleet from November 17 to 25. And if the United States government knew, then President Roosevelt knew. These naval records prove that America really did intercept transmissions from Japan to the naval fleet that was supposed to be attacking Pearl Harbor. However, did Japan know that America was intercepting their transmissions? Think about it this way: if Japan knew that America was intercepting its transmissions, would they still have attacked? Maybe, but I do not think we will ever know for sure.
However, this just raises another question: If the United States knew that the Japanese would attack Pearl Harbor, why were they not warned, or prepared for an attack? Well, the Americans knew that the Japanese would attack, however, they did not know where they would attack. So really, the U. S. knew of an attack, they just did not know where Japan would attack. Some American officials figured that the Philippines were the target of the attack, so the Philippines were warned of an attack and put on alert. The idea that the Japanese would attack something as far out as Pearl Harbor was considered to be ludicrous, therefore Pearl Harbor was not warned of an attack. That was a big mistake.
Japan actually ended up attacking Pearl Harbor on December 7. And because Pearl Harbor was not warned of an attack, they were not ready for an attack. Japan surprised Pearl Harbor with the attack, and Japan ended up being successful in its attack. It was the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor that America declared war on Japan and officially entered World War II.
However, this brings another question to my mind: Why did Japan attack Pearl Harbor? The answer is quite simple. Japan wanted to build an Empire of its own. However, it lacked the resources to do so. For one thing, 96% of Japan’s oil supply was being imported. When Japan occupied French Indochina in 194, America retaliated by freezing all of Japan’s assets in the U. S., cutting off 96% of Japan’s oil supply. Because of this, Japan then decided to take oil by force. However, Japan feared that if they attacked British Malaya and the Dutch East Indies in the south they would provoke the U. S. into entering World War II, so to eliminate the threat of the U. S. entering World War II, Japan decided to attack Pearl Harbor, hoping that the U. S. would negotiate peace. However, because of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the U. S. did not try to negotiate peace. Instead, the day after the attack, the U. S. declared war on Japan and officially entered World War II. This is not what Japan was expecting. In fact, this is exactly the opposite of what Japan was expecting America to do. They attacked America to make sure that America did not join World War II because they knew America was too strong. It was actually America that defeated Japan at the end of the war, by dropping two atomic bombs on Japan. Because of the U. S. entering the war, Japan has less of a chance of actually winning the war, which they eventually did lose. It would have been better if Japan just did not attack Pearl Harbor, and they probably know it, whether they do admit it, or they do not (now that I look back at this information, it really is not that simple after all, is it?).
If you look at it right, you could see that the U. S. is the cause (somewhat) for the U. S. entering World War II. If the U. S. did not cut off oil imports to Japan, Japan would have no reason to take oil by force, so there would be no need to worry about provoking the U. S., so Japan would not have attacked Pearl Harbor in an attempt to make the U. S. try to negotiate peace, so the U. S. would not have entered the war. I do not expect you to agree with me. I am just simply stating that the U. S. might be the reason for why the U. S. entered the war, if you can understand me right.
But I get, right? The U. S. just retaliated to Japan’s occupation of French Indochina. And I get it. The U. S. had no idea that Japan would try to attack other countries and try to obtain oil by force. I mean, I would have retaliated (probably) the same way. Although, the U. S. did not have to retaliate. They could have just left them alone and stayed neutral. But they did retaliate, and look at where that got them. They ended up entering World War II, which was not a good thing to have been done. And they had the choice not to join World War II, but they ended up joining anyway. They could have just ignored it, but they did not, they retaliated. And because of this (part of the reason), Japan attacked Pearl Harbor to scare America into submission. But, they ended up joining World War II anyway, which is exactly the opposite of what Japan was expecting.
President Roosevelt knew in late November 1941 that the Japanese Navy would attack American forces in early December, but he failed to warn American military commanders in the Pacific. This statement is almost completely true. America knew that Japan was going to attack American forces in early December, and America knew this in late November. And if America knew, then the President knew. That we know. However, he did not fail to contact American military commanders in the Pacific. He just warned the wrong military commanders. Remember when I said that America thought the Philippines were the target of the attack? It’s true. America did think that the Philippines were the target of the target of the attack they knew Japan was planning. However, the idea of Japan attacking something as far out as Pearl Harbor was considered ludicrous and crazy. So they were not warned of an attack. The statement “President Roosevelt knew in late November 1941 that the Japanese Navy would attack American forces in early December, but he failed to warn American military commanders in the Pacific.” , is only half true. President Roosevelt knew that Japan would attack, but they did not know where. So they warned the wrong area of an attack! President Roosevelt did not forget to warn the military commanders in the Pacific of an attack, he just warned the wrong military commanders of an attack!
The statement “President Roosevelt knew in late November 1941 that the Japanese Navy would attack American forces in early December, but he failed to warn American military commanders in the Pacific.” is only half true. This is because America knew that Japan would attack, they just did not know where. So America warned the military commanders they though were the target, but did not warn Pearl Harbor because the idea to attack Pearl Harbor was considered ludicrous, but are there any other reasons why Pearl Harbor was not warned of an attack? This can not be the only reason the Pearl Harbor was not warned of an attack. Now, it may have been the number one reason, but it could not have been the only reason. And it wasn’t.
There was also a communications delay which prevented the warning from getting there in time. So apparently, America knew that Japan would attack, they just did not know where. So they put the Philippines on alert because they thought that they were the target of the attack. However, the idea of attacking Pearl Harbor was considered ludicrous and crazy. However, apparently they warned Pearl Harbor anyway. What stinks is that there was a communications delay which prevented the warning from getting there in time. Also, America thought that an attack on Pearl Harbor was impossible because they thought that Japan knew that Pearl Harbor was alert and prepared for an attack, so America thought that because Japan knew this, they would not attack Pearl Harbor. However, whether Japan knew this or not, they still attacked. So really, America was warned of an attack, but the message did not get to Pearl Harbor in time, so it was as if it was never sent. It was sent, but it did not get there in time, so it was as if it was never sent.
Did Japan know that America was picking up its transmissions from Japan to its fleet which was going to be attacking Pearl Harbor? America was picking up Japan’s transmissions and figured out that they were going to attack, but did Japan know that America was picking up its transmissions? I do not think that they did, otherwise they might have backed off, since this was supposed to be a surprise attack. But, we will never know because we do not know if Japan knew that America was picking up its transmissions to the attacking fleet in the Pacific. We do not know if Japan knew that America was intercepting its transmissions because if Japan did know, they probably would have not carried out the attack, but they did. So there are two ways this could have turned out. Japan could have known and backed off from the attack, but they did not. Or, Japan could have known, but they attacked anyway because they were ‘past the point of no return’, so they did it anyway. Or they could have just not known, because they still attacked, which would indicate that the most likely reason is that they just did not know, which is probably what happened. If Japan knew that America was picking up its transmissions, would you think that Japan would still attack? Probably not. But we will never really know.
President Roosevelt knew in late November 1941 that the Japanese Navy would attack American forces in early December, but he failed to warn American military commanders in the Pacific. I feel like we have gone over this topic numerous times already, but I think it is good to review it. So, President Roosevelt did know that Japan would attack an American base (because of the intercepted transmissions), but they did not know where. So, they warned the Philippines because America thought that they were the target, but they also tried to warn Pearl Harbor, even though the thought that Japan would attack something as far out as Japan was considered ludicrous. However, there was a communications delay, so they never got the message. So President Roosevelt did try to warn American military commanders in the Pacific, but there was a communications delay, so they never got the message. Also, the thought that Pearl Harbor would be the target of the attack was thought to be crazy, so not a lot of people really cared.
However, it is not their fault, so do not think it is. They did not know where Japan would attack. All they knew is that Japan would attack. They did not know where. It is completely understandable that they thought that the Philippines were the target of the attack. The Philippines are much closer to Japan, and Pearl Harbor is way out in the Pacific. Plus, they did try to warn Pearl Harbor, there was just a communications delay which prevented the warning from getting there in time.
President Roosevelt knew in late November 1941 that the Japanese Navy would attack American forces in early December, but he failed to warn American military commanders in the Pacific. President Roosevelt did know that Japan would attack, because of the intercepted transmissions taken from the Japan base sent to the fleet that was supposed to be attacking Pearl Harbor. However, all America got out of it was that Japan would attack, but they did not figure out where. So America warned the most likely target: the Philippines. However, Pearl Harbor was warned as well. But the message got delayed, so it never got to then. Does this situation count as failing to warn Pearl Harbor? America did try to warn Pearl Harbor, but the message got delayed. Does this count as failing to warn Pearl Harbor? I think it does. They tried to warn Pearl Harbor, so that was good, however, the message did not get to them in time. It does not matter how the message did not get there, it failed to get there in time. President Roosevelt did fail to warn military commanders in the Pacific, but he did try to warn them. But he did fail. It was not his fault that he failed, there was nothing he could do to speed up the time it took for the message to get to Pearl Harbor in time, but it never got there, so he did fail. It really stinks, but it is true, he did fail.
So when I said that the statement “President Roosevelt President Roosevelt knew in late November 1941 that the Japanese Navy would attack American forces in early December, but he failed to warn American military commanders in the Pacific.” is only half true, that was when I was only half way through examining the statement. Now that I have examined all of it, I see now that it is all true. This entire statement is totally true. President Roosevelt did know that Japan would attack, but he did not know where. He warned military commanders in the Philippines because that was the most likely target, but he failed to warn military commanders in the Pacific, because the message was delayed and did not get there in time. You may not consider him not getting the message to Pearl Harbor in time a failure, but he tried to do something, and it did not work out. That is what I (and maybe a lot of other people, maybe you do not and that is okay) call a failure, but that does not mean that I think it was his fault, because it was not his fault. There was nothing he could have done to make the message get to Pearl Harbor in time. It was out of his hands from the moment he sent it. The message just did not get there in time, and that was a terrible thing to have happen, especially at that time. If it was delayed at any other time, it would have been fine, but it just had to have been delayed at that time. Things like that just happen, I guess. Also, I do not think that people really cared if the message got there in time, because people thought that Pearl Harbor was not the target of the attack, and the Philippines were. People thought that the idea of an attack on Pearl Harbor was ludicrous and impossible.
You may not have noticed this, but I have mentioned that America joining World War II due to the attack on Pearl Harbor was the opposite of what Japan was expecting from America. Well, it is true. Japan attacked America to scare them into surrendering to them, so they would not think of joining World War II, because Japan knew that America could destroy them if they wanted to, which is what ended up happening at the end of the war (two atomic bombs were dropped on Japan by America). However, America joined World War II because of this attack, which is not what Japan wanted. This is precisely the opposite of what Japan wanted to happen. It would have been better if Japan did not attack, because Japan would not have been bombed by America if Japan did not attack Pearl Harbor. Attacking Pearl Harbor was a big mistake. And I am sure that even Japan knows that it would have been better if they just did not attack Pearl Harbor at all. Would Japan even have still attacked Pearl Harbor if they knew that America was intercepting their transmissions? We know that Japan did attack, so whether Japan did or did not know that its transmissions were being intercepted, they still attack. Now, whether they did not know and they attacked, or they did know but just did it anyway, they attacked. You cannot change the past. However, if Japan did know that America was intercepting its transmissions, they might not have attacked. It was a possibility, but, they still attacked, so we will probably never know for sure. Though, it is most likely that Japan did not know America was picking up its transmissions, because if they did the attack on Pearl Harbor might have had a different outcome, because Japan did know America was intercepting its transmissions, Japan might not have even attacked. These are just things to think about.
What was the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor? According to Census.gov, “The attack killed 2,403 U.S. personnel, including 68 civilians, and destroyed or damaged 19 U.S. Navy ships, including 8 battleships. The three aircraft carriers of the U.S. Pacific Fleet were out to sea on maneuvers.” According to Wikipedia, “Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor took place on December 7, 1941. The United States military suffered 19 ships damaged or sunk, and 2,403 people were killed. Its most significant consequence was the entrance of the United States into World War II.” According to National Archives (.gov), “Following the devastating attack, Congress declared war on Japan, bringing America officially into World War II. All of the Pearl Harbor battleships save three, the USS Arizona, the USS Oklahoma, and the USS Utah, were raised, rebuilt, and put back into service during the war.” The casualties of Pearl Harbor were devastating. No wonder why America declared war on Japan and entered World War II. America even declared war on Japan the day after the attack, on December 8, 1941. The casualties were devastating. 2,403 people were killed in this attack, along with 19 Navy battleships. But I feel like the worst part about the attack on Pearl Harbor is the reason it is most remembered for: the beginning of the entrance of America into World War II, which was a lot more devastating to not just the military and its soldiers, but also to U. S. civilians as well, than Pearl Harbor could have ever been. I feel like if President Roosevelt’s message got to Pearl Harbor on time and did not get delayed, then the attack would not have been so devastating. Pearl Harbor would have been ready for an attack. It was because Pearl Harbor was not warned of an attack that made the attack the most devastating. Japan surprised Pearl Harbor with the attack. If the message got there in time, Pearl Harbor would have been ready, and Japan might not have succeeded in its attack.
Here is a final report of the statement “President Roosevelt knew in late November 1941 that the Japanese Navy would attack American forces in early December, but he failed to warn American military commanders in the Pacific.” President knew in late November 1941 that the Japanese Navy would attack American forces in early December. How did he know this? On the date December 25, 1941, the Admiral Yamamoto of Japan sent a radio message to the Japanese fleet of warships that would attack Pearl Harbor on December 7 (however, America did not know when or where the Japan navy would attack). Naval records that were recently released prove that the United States have intercepted eighty-three messages that Yamamoto sent to the fleet from November 17 to 25. And if the United States government knew, then President Roosevelt knew. President Roosevelt knew that Japan would attack, but they did not know where they would attack, or when they would attack. So America sent a warning to the Philippines because they though that the Philippines were the most likely target. The thought of Japan attacking anything as far out as Pearl Harbor was considered ludicrous and crazy. However, they sent a warning to them anyway. However, there was a message delay and it did not get there in time. So Pearl Harbor was not warned of an attack, and Japan attacked Pearl Harbor which was not ready for an attack because they never received the warning, which is why Japan was successful in its attack on Pearl Harbor (remember the reason Japan attacked America, they wanted to scare America into negotiating peace, but their plan did not work, instead, America joined World War II, which is what Japan did not want to have happen). Remember, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor because they wanted to attack British Malaya and the Dutch East Indies in the south, but they feared this would trigger America into entering World War II, which they did not want to have happen, so they attacked Pearl Harbor to try to scare America into surrendering, but America instead entered World War II which Japan did not want to have happen. Japan attacked Pearl Harbor so that America would not enter World War II, but America did not surrender like Japan wanted, but entered World War II, which was the opposite reason for why Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in the first place. Was the message not getting to Pearl Harbor in time considered failure to warn American military commanders in the Pacific? I think it was. The goal was to warn Pearl Harbor, but they were not warned in time, so I consider it a failure. President Roosevelt did know that Japan was going to attack, so he warned Pearl Harbor, but there was a communications delay which prevented the message from getting there in time, so he failed in warning Pearl Harbor of an attack. The statement “President Roosevelt knew in late November 1941 that the Japanese Navy would attack American forces in early December, but he failed to warn American military commanders in the Pacific” is totally and completely true.
You might have seen me say that we can not change the past a few times, and it is true. This has nothing to do with the essay, I get it. But I just want to end by saying that you can not change the past, so do not try it. However, you can change the future. Nothing is set in stone. The past is gone, so live your present like you want to have no regrets in the future.