Pearl Harbor For The Sudden Attack example essay topic

December 7, 1941 will be remembered in history as one of the most phenomenal days ever to take place in the United States. The attack on Pearl Harbor came as no surprise to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his military advisors. It was a key element in drawing the United States to fight in World War II. This day will forever be incredibly significant, especially because our President at the time was keeping secrets from the supposed democratic American public. Pearl Harbor was just what the President needed to have a reason to get our country involved in the war. I support this theory of President Roosevelt having the knowledge of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Sufficient evidence shows that Franklin D. Roosevelt knew he was in control of the situation and went behind the backs of the American people in getting the nation involved in one of the mass destruction of World War II. President Roosevelt was planning all along to use Pearl Harbor as the element pulling the United States into fighting in the war. Speaking with " [... ] Admiral Richardson, President Roosevelt explained that the Fleet was being kept in the mid-Pacific because its presence helped to deter Japanese aggression in the Far East. This statement must have been made to help the President [because] he could not tell the Admiral the real reason for retaining the Fleet in Hawaii" (Theobald 23). The President obviously had his plans for becoming involved in the war.

Unfortunately, he had to deceive many people to do so. Sixty years have passed since Pearl Harbor, and extensive research has been done on trying to figure out the truth behind Japans sudden attack. Author of Pearl Harbor: The Facts Behind The Fiction, James Perloff states that "research has not only shown Washington knew in advance of the attack, but deliberately withheld its foreknowledge from our commanders in Hawaii in the hope that the 'surprise' attack would catapult the U.S. into World War II". There is an opposition to my argument in which they say that Franklin D. Roosevelt was a good president and never kept any secrets about Pearl Harbor from the American public. This is a strong argument because it would make sense that the President would be loyal to the people of the United States.

He did not have good intentions in keeping a secret about Pearl Harbor from the people. There is a good argument for the opposition made in a library journal saying that "Roosevelt knew the war was coming, but he wanted to fight Germany, not Japan, and it is not credible that he would have allowed his Pacific fleet to be ravaged" (Itk in). This is understandable that Roosevelt would not want to fight with Japan. If he did know about their attack, he would not have had so many people at Pearl Harbor. The Americans stationed there were not prepared for battle, and President Roosevelt would not have let Japan get away with that. Another strong argument for my opposition shows that Franklin D. Roosevelt did not know about the attack of Pearl Harbor.

This is our own country's racism. This argument states that our racism to Japan blinded us to the reality that they could attack us. The leaders and strategists of our nation did not believe that Japan had the brains, willpower, or strength to carry out an attack against us. These beliefs did not help us in preventing the attack on Pearl Harbor. The President was along with the rest of the people in believing that Japan could never dream of attacking the United States. In a rebuttal to my opposition's argument, it can be argued that Franklin D. Roosevelt did in fact know about the attack on Pearl Harbor before it happened.

The President needed something to happen that would pull the United States into fighting in the war. Even though he did not care about fighting with Japan, he just saw this as an excuse to get involved in war. Roosevelt was willing to sacrifice his Pacific fleets at Pearl Harbor in order to become involved. There is strong evidence supporting the fact that President Roosevelt knew about the attack before it happened.

Perloff states in his article "The Facts Behind the Fiction", that "on October 9, 1941, the War Department decoded a Tokyo-to-Honolulu dispatch instructing the Consul General to divide Pearl Harbor into five specified areas and to report the exact locations of American ships therein". This event helps support the fact that the United States government knew about Pearl Harbor before it happened. For some reason, Franklin D. Roosevelt became aware of the planned attacks and decided to keep them a secret from the American people. Evidence has also been found that supports the idea that Franklin D. Roosevelt tried to provoke Japan into attacking the United States at Pearl Harbor. It was obviously the easiest place for Japan to attack. They would know that nobody would be prepared for a sudden attack out at Pearl Harbor.

Here was an easy location for the Japanese to attack the Pacific fleets of the United States. It is stated in an article by James Perloff that "Oliver Lyttleton, British Minister of Production, stated in 1944: 'Japan was provoked into attacking America at Pearl Harbor. It is a travesty of history to say that America was forced into the war' " (Perloff). This was a high possibility considering how badly Roosevelt wanted to get involved in war. He was a good president, and needed an excuse to get what he wanted because it was not what the American public wanted. This argument of whether President Franklin D. Roosevelt knew about the attack or not is an extremely controversial issue, of which will be studied and researched throughout the future.

It has been sixty years since the famous attack, yet there is still research being performed to find reasons as to why it happened. Roosevelt used the attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor as his excuse to become involved in fighting in World War II. He strived to be loyal to his people, and actually ended up deceiving them by not preparing Pearl Harbor for the sudden attack. His Pacific fleets were sitting targets for the Japanese fighters.

All the American battleships were at Pearl Harbor as well, and these are the best fighting ships to have. They were destroyed. Evidence strongly supports the notion that President Roosevelt knew about the attack on Pearl Harbor before it happened.