Infamy: Pearl Harbor and its Aftermath

On December 7th 1942, the day before Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) delivered his speech to Congress to ask them to go to war with Japan, The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Over 2000 American lives were lost from one of the most deceptive attacks the United States of America has ever undergone. FDR’s central purpose of his “Pearl Harbor address to the nation” speech is to try to persuade Congress to go to war with Japan. He develops this argument through characterizing japan and the nature of attack, showing the extent and danger of the attack, Reassuring the public and at the same time builds support, finally by his use of rhetoric.

Pearl Harbor is just one event that has shaped American history. With this being a topic of interest to many, authors like to use it as a setting for a fictional story. As a reader, it is important to remember that when reading historical fiction, some elements of the story will be truth while others will be made up. In the book I survived the bombing of Pearl Harbor it would seem that the author Lauren Tarshis was more concerned about writing a story rather than accurately portraying history.

Schlesinger, R. (2008, December 11). FDR, Pearl Harbor, and the Date of Infamy. Retrieved from

Introduction: December 7 1941 marked a significant date, when the Japanese launched a surprise attack on the United States Naval base, Pearl Harbour. The day after the attack, on December 8 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt presented his Infamy Speech to American civilians stating that; “Yesterday, December 7th 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. I asked that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on December 7 1941”. The purpose of this report is to show that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had no prior knowledge about the surprise attack supported by historical evidence in comparison to Robert Stinnett’s thoughts, the American journalist and former sailor that knew about the Japanese planning a attack on Pearl Harbour in advance.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his war speech and asserted December 7, 1941 as, “a date which will live in infamy.” The United States’ naval bases stationed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii were struck by Japanese planes intentionally and promptly. The news of this attack on the Pearl Harbor shocked the world. It was devastating to the nation that were still in the throes of depression. Witnesses of this event painted a portrait of a nation stunned, but determined to rise again. The United States’ government had not disclosed a Pearl Harbor story to the public--that the U.S. had failed to act on advance information about a planned Japanese attack. Japan 's move against the United States was audacious enough to be considered no more than a slight possibility, although the potential for an attack had been widely discussed.

Both Pearl Harbor and 9/11 are tragic events in United States history, that will likely be remember in American history by even the least historically educated of the American populace and likely much of the rest of the world too. Both events were surprise attacks on American soil and both led to a fervor of patriotism from the American people to get revenge for those that died in the attacks. This paper will compare and contrast the two events, while providing a basic outline of the events and affects the two had on American society, in both the immediate and long term.

In January 1941, reports were received that Japan might attack Pearl Harbor but military officials ignored these reports. They considered attacks on the Philippines and other European countries to be more likely, underestimating Japan’s ability to conceal preparations for such an operation. Due to the success of the cryptanalysis machine called, Magic, American leaders started breaking Japanese military operational codes. The codes that were deciphered showed Japan was likely to take some type of military action (Irive). At that time, Japan had only a 12-month supply of petroleum to fuel its economy and war operations left. So the U.S. anticipated Japan would act quickly! The only questions that could not be answered were when and where (Woods). Pearl Harbor had been a major naval base since before 1898. In early

One of America’s most infamous attacks comes in the form of the Pearl Harbor. Throughout most of World War II, America led with an Isolationism-based policy that saw the country avoid foreign affairs. This policy was followed until the late 1930’s and early 1940’s when America began to see how the war affected its surrounding allies and the incoming threat of a possible attack in the Pacific Ocean. ‘The date the will live in infamy’ coined by sitting president Franklin D. Roosevelt, saw on December 7, 1941, Japanese airmen bombed the U.S. naval base Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. This horrific assault led Franklin D. Roosevelt asking Congress for a declaration of war against Japan. After one day, with an overwhelming in favor vote, America entered

Roosevelt launches his speech by announcing the alarmingly tragic events of the attack on Pearl Harbor. In his opening line, he declares that December 7th, 1941 will be “a date which will live in infamy” (Roosevelt para. 2). Roosevelt uses the word “infamy” in order to present the severity of the invasion and the corresponding decision at hand. This single word conveys a serious tone which helps the audience grasp how momentous and pivotal the attack on Pearl Harbor is and will likely be. Furthermore, it allows the congressmen to understand the gravity of the attack on Pearl Harbor so that they are able to make an informed decision about his subsequent request to declare war.

The attack on Pearl Harbor is something that is taught in grade school history. However, if it is being taught correctly that’s a different story. As a child, we believe everything that the teacher taught us even if it was a lie. The story of Pearl Harbor is a horrific event that has been revealing more information throughout the years. What was taught in school was Pearl Harbor was a surprise attack by the Japanese. That the Japanese managed to fly into US Airspace and destroy our ships and planes for no reason. As we research more about this particular topic, we discover that the United States was doing a really good job keeping secrets. For example, the Japanese has a reason to attack the US.

“A date which will live in infamy” . This is a quote said to congress by the Commander- in- Chief Franklin Roosevelt. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor Roosevelt asked congress to declare war on Japan. Pearl Harbor was a surprise to the United States, a great plan to the Japanese Empire, and a gateway to World War II. The attack on Pearl Harbor took a toll on countries all over the world. That day in 1941 has been and forever will be the most infamous act of the Japanese Empire.

administration and military officials. He believes that the US decoded and translated the Japanese’s message before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Hence, that attack would not have been a surprise if the commanders at Pearl Harbor were property informed, yet they were left in the dark by the FRD and his administration. Stinnett makes this claim since broadcasts were intercepted at Station H which was part of the Navy’s Mid-Pacific Radio Intelligence Network.

"In very exceptional cases, they made no mention of their plans or movements to any of their embassies, so that, in these instances, there were no codes to decipher. The attack on Pearl Harbour was such a case" (Ford,

The attack on Pearl Harbor was a hard time for the U.S. to realize what Japan had done. The attack happened on December 7, 1941 and it was by far a surprise on America. The new had spread from coast to coast that Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor and killed many. The American people had a hard time understanding what the Japanese did and how this was something they’d never forget. The Americans were in total surprise on who do they blame and how could this have happened. The American people were in dismay. The president had talked through his way as to go to war with the Japanese.(Butow). The detractors didn't pay much attention to all the reasons why Japanese did attack the Pearl Harbor. The spend time ignoring all the reasons why the Japanese

In this article is about how well plan out Japan had the raid on Pearl Harbor. The preparation for the Japanese Navy before the Pearl Harbor attack were intelligently planned. The denial and deception plan or communication intelligence was used to distract the U.S. military intelligence of the Japanese vessel's location. The U.S. depends only on radio communications, therefore they were incorrectly confident on the sight of the enemy. This strategy leaves the U.S. with the information on the Japanese naval ships not been so near to the Oahu Island that morning on December 7,