[December 7, 2016] There are many military analysts who claim that the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese Empire on this day, December 7, 1941 could have been prevented, or the destruction reduced, and that it was a gross failure of the military and of the political administration of President Roosevelt. There are also a number of conspiracy theories that Roosevelt knew of the impending attack and did nothing so that the United States would be drawn into the war. All of this is a bunch of Monday morning quarterbacking.
Certainly, the U.S. Navy and Army Air Corps could have done a better job of dispersing ships and aircraft as a matter of basic security and that would have lessened the effect of any attack. However, thinking about such matters was beyond the mindsets of senior military officers of the day. And, there is no U.S. president who takes the lives of his citizens, military or not, in such a heartless way as to put them in danger unnecessarily.
It is crucial what a leader does after a disaster takes place. The next day President Roosevelt gave his Infamy Speech and within one hour the Congress passed a formal declaration of war against Japan that officially brought the U.S. into World War II. The entire industrial production of the U.S. was brought to bear and quickly replaced all the lost ships and plans; something that Japanese Intelligence had significantly underestimated.
Today, the United States recognizes those who were present that day, both military and civilian, and honors those as Pearl Harbor Survivors. We also recognize that any failures by either the military or political leaders of the day were not due to a lack of attentiveness, underhandedness, or callousness on their part.
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