"I'D LIKE TO DICTATE MY MESSAGE. IT WILL BE SHORT!"

US DECLARES WAR ON JAPAN; FDR CALLS YESTERDAY'S ATTACK A 'DAY OF INFAMY'

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On December 8, 1941, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt addressed a joint session of congress announcing that the United States is "in a state of war" with Japan following the attack yesterday on the Hawaiian Islands.

The President said...

"Yesterday, December 7, 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."

And with firmness and resolve, FDR added...

"No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will will win through to absolute victory."

JFK+50 NOTE

On the evening of Dec 7, 1941, FDR called in his secretary, Grace Tully*, and said..."Sit down Grace.  I'm going before the Congress tomorrow and I'd like to dictate my message.  It will be short."

The National Archives describes FDR's short message as "one of the most famous speeches of the 20th century, giving birth to one of the most famous phrases ("a date which will live in infamy").

In the first draft the phrase was "a date which will live in world history," but as you can see in the document below, it was crossed out and reworded...the rest is history. 

*Grace Tully (1900-1984) was born in Bayonne, New Jersey & educated at Grace Institute of NY before joining Gov. Roosevelt's staff as assistant to FDR's secretary, Missy LeHand. 

GT replaced ML as presidential secretary in June 1941 & served in that position until FDR's death in April 1945.  She typed the first draft of FDR's "Day of Infamy" address.

SOURCES

"FDR's 'Day of Infamy' Speech," Prologue Magazine, National Archives, Winter 2001, www.archives.gov/

"Speech by FDR (Transcript)," Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/

"U.S. Declares War On Japan," JFK+50, December 8, 2011, www.jfk50.blogspot.com/

"Day of Infamy Address, 1st Draft Changes"

FDR Presidential Library

JFK HEARS NEWS OF PEARL HARBOR ATTACK

December 7, 2013

JFK HEARD NEWS OF PEARL HARBOR ATTACK ON THE RADIO

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) John F. Kennedy entered the United States Navy as an ensign in September 1941.  

JFK, fresh out of Officer Training School, was assigned, at the age of 24, to the Office of Naval Intelligence here in the Nation's Capital.

Sunday, December 7, 1941, Jack Kennedy had been enjoying one of his favorite pastimes, a pick up touch football game with his friend Lem Billings on the Mall close to the Washington Monument.

As the two young friends were returning to Jack's apartment on 16th Street, they heard the news of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor over their car radio.

Nigel Hamilton writes...

"(Lem) Billings was 'terribly excited.'  Thick, billowing smoke rose above the Japanese embassy on Massachusetts Avenue as guilty diplomats burned their papers.  Hundreds began to assemble outside the White House...wanting to know what would be the president's reaction."

USS Arizona 

Pearl Harbor

December 7, 1941

NARA Photo

John F. Kennedy could not have known then how much of an impact this event would have on his life and that of his family.  He would go on to serve in the South Pacific during the coming war and narrowly escape death on the PT109.

His older brother, Joseph P. "Joe" Kennedy Jr., who seemed destined to a political career, was killed while on a hazardous mission during the war.

Ralph G. Martin writes that JFK "had no romantic conception of war" and that "he saw it as an event of shattering waste and horror."

Mr. Martin quotes Jacqueline Kennedy as saying...

"The poignancy of young men dying haunted him."

As to the immediate impact of Pearl Harbor, Nigel Hamilton tells us that after FDR's 'Day of Infamy' address, the Office of Naval Intelligence immediately "moved into wartime gear," working "round the clock."

At war's end, JFK took Joe's place in politics and the rest is history.

SOURCES

"A Hero For Our Time:  An Intimate Story of the Kennedy Years," by Ralph G. Martin, Macmillan Publishing Company, New York, 1983.

"Jack Kennedy, Elusive Hero," by Chris Matthews, Simon and Schuster, New York, 2011.

"JFK, Reckless Youth," by Nigel Hamilton, Random House, New York, 1992.

DAY OF INFAMY 72 YEARS AGO


Honolulu, Hawaii (JFK+50) At 7:55 a.m. Hawaii time 72 years ago this morning, December 7, 1941, Oahu and the city of Honolulu came under attack by Japanese war planes.

Two waves composed of more than 350 Japanese aircraft participated in the raid in which 8 American battleships were severely damaged or destroyed.

Both Hickam and Wheeler Air Fields were attacked with an estimated two-thirds of US aircraft damaged or destroyed.

More than 2000 Americans, civilian and military, were killed with a thousand more wounded.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in his address to a joint session of Congress on Monday, December 8, said...

"Yesterday, December 7th, 1941, a date which will in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan."


BETTY McINTOSH DESCRIBES PEARL HARBOR ATTACK

Honolulu, Hawaii (JFK+50) I reported for work immediately this morning when the first news - OAHU IS BEING ATTACKED -- crackled over the radio.  

I saw a formation of black planes diving straight into the ocean off Pearl Harbor.

The blue sky was punctured with...smoke.

I saw a rooftop fly into the air.

I was assigned to cover the emergency room of the hospital where the victims were brought.

Bombs were dropping over the city while in the morgue bodies were laid on slabs in the grotesque positions in which they had died.

There was blood...and death...in the emergency room as doctors calmly continued to treat the victims.

I had never known that blood could be so bright red.

I went to a bombed store on King Street where I often stopped for a Coke at the cool drug counter only to find it along with six others had nearly completely burned down.*

*Elizabeth "Betty" P. McIntosh was a reporter for the Honolulu Star Bulletin on Dec 7 1941.  She wrote an article for her newspaper "after a week of war," but her editors thought it too graphic to publish.

The complete article was published for the 1st time in 71 years on Dec. 6, 2012 in the Washington Post. Betty McIntosh worked for the OSS and CIA before retiring in Prince William County.

SOURCE:  WP OPINIONS, "Honolulu After Pearl Harbor:  A Report Published for the First Time, 71 Years Later," www.washingtonpost.com

Betty McIntosh Interviews Sailor
               Honolulu, Hawaii
      www.washingtonpost.com