December 1941

by Craig Shirley

  Roosevelt’s alter ego, Harry Hopkins, who had been hospitalized for weeks at the “Naval Hospital,” left his bed and met with the president over lunch on December 1, according to reports.86 A Japanese official said they wanted to “make the United States reconsider Pacific problems.”87 The media—especially the Japanese press—began referring to the “A, B, C, D” coalition (America, Britain, China, and Dutch East Indies) and how they were conspiring against the Japanese. The administration also began referring to the State Department’s document given to the Japanese as “principles for peace in the Pacific.”88

  Analysts argued that if Japan went ahead and invaded Thailand, they would gain an advantage in a final assault on the Burma Road, a vital thoroughfare used to supply the Free Chinese. If the Japanese seized the Burma Road, it would put them in better stead to attack the British and Dutch, it would allow Japan to further interdict tin, rubber, and other resources going to America, and it would be more evidence that the Axis powers really did want to rule the world. Some speculation intimated that Germany was overextended in North Africa and on the Eastern Front, so would be of little aid to Japan in their drive south and deeper into China.89 But news reports continued that the Japanese cabinet wanted to proceed with peace efforts.

  At his press conference, Roosevelt expressed hope for a speedy response from Tokyo, but said that it would be “silly” to set a deadline for a reply.90 News reports said the Japanese could not get back to Roosevelt for “three days or more” because they were seeking “‘clarification’ of various points in Secretary of State Cordell Hull’s statement on the American position.”91 Newspapers in Tokyo suggested that with the new British ships arriving in the South Pacific by order of the Admiralty and because of the heightened state of alert by the British, American, and Dutch forces, it was they who were agitating for a war and accused the British of planning to invade Thailand.92 Japanese news agencies also flooded the airwaves with accusations against Australia and America.93

  In fact, it was revealed that the navy had evacuated all 750 marines in Shanghai and they’d been redeployed in the Philippines, out of harm’s way. They had crossed the China Sea—along with remaining American civilians—in two ships, the President Madison and the President Harrison.94

  Americans worried that if Japan invaded Thailand, “it would enable Japan to menace American sources of tin, rubber and other raw materials essential for defense production, and, by giving Japan a firm hold in the South Pacific, jeopardize the future security of the Philippines.”95

  On the other hand, other government experts were reassured. “If the Japanese want to start something . . . we can bomb Japanese cities and war objectives from the Philippines easier than they can come this way in the air, since we have longer range, faster planes—the flying fortresses.” The U.S. government was reportedly sending more armaments to the Philippines to rebuff the Japanese if they attempted an invasion. “The highest Army and Navy authorities here expect a Pacific war to be a series of quick and heavy air blasts, like tornados over Japan, the Philippines, Indo-China and Malaya,” reported via radio journalist Royal Arch Gunnison for the Newspaper Alliance.96

  The Japanese newspaper, Yomiuri, compared their circumstances with America’s in 1776.97

  Expenditures by the federal government in 1941—ending with the fiscal year in November—revealed that the government was only collecting in taxes one out of every three dollars it was spending. The government had brought in taxes from June to October just under $3 billion, but had spent almost $9 billion. Government officials were not worried about the massive borrowing, however, because new taxes would go into effect in 1942 and discussions were underway for even greater taxing of the American people. In that five-month period, 70 percent of federal spending had gone to defense.98

  Like all bureaucracies, the navy was often engaged in fights large and small. As they watched earth-shattering developments around the world, a fierce turf battle broke out over who would “operate the cafeteria in the Navy Department Building.”99

  The Navy Cafeteria Association operated the dining hall, but Secretary Knox wanted the Public Buildings Administration to take things over. The association bitterly fought the secretary. “Officers of the Cafeteria Association insist that the cafeteria, which has been under their operation since 1937, provides better food, larger portions and better service. ” The facility provided for twelve thousand meals per day, and to break the impasse, the matter was turned over to the sage council of the Judge Advocate General.100

  Several days later, FDR received a memo from an aide about a “Mr. Davies” who was complaining that the navy had commandeered his yacht, but it was not seeing any action. “The Auxiliary Vessels Board . . . which indicates that if acquired, she will later be restored and returned to her owner in the condition in which received by the Navy—if still afloat at that time.”101 He also received a more serious memo on the horrible conditions the Polish prisoners were subjected to by the Soviets. “As penalties food rations are reduced to 300 grams of bread and 200 grams of thin soup every twenty-four hours and [the Poles were] imprisoned in cold, wet dungeons.”102

  Secretary of War Knox seemed not to worry about the abilities of the U.S. Navy. He’d just written an article for American Magazine saying the navy “is ready for any emergency in the Atlantic or Pacific.”103 But it was noted in another publication that “units of the Japanese fleet have been reported maneuvering north of British Borneo.”104 No one paid attention.

  The shooting war on the water continued unabated, and Germany had the upper hand over the Allies. It was disclosed that the British aircraft carrier, Ark Royal, had been sunk by U-boats in the Mediterranean, with a number of planes appallingly still strapped on her decks.105 German ships had also sunk a number of Australian ships, both military and civilian.106 Berlin exulted that in a matter of weeks, they had sent to the bottom forty-eight merchant ships and eleven naval craft while damaging thirty-nine others. All told, the Germans had sunk 231,870 tons in November alone.107

  America was starting to churn out “Liberty” ships, which would become the backbone of the merchant marines. In Baltimore, six of these workhorse boats were shortly launched, including one christened the Roger B. Taney.108 Taney, a son of Maryland, had been chief justice of the U. S. Supreme Court less than a century earlier and was famous for delivering the majority opinion in the Dred Scott decision, which in essence codified slavery in America, saying that slaves were not people but property and thus could not sue in federal courts.

  No American war or discussion of war would be complete without its politicization, and syndicated columnist Walter Lippmann did the trick. “A failure on the part of the Republican party to give the national policy wholehearted support, which, of course, includes outspoken criticism of incompetence, unwisdom and inefficiency, will have to be construed as meaning only one thing: that the party is gambling on the defeat of the United States and that it is staking its political future on a national disaster. If the Republican party in Congress merely sulks and opposes, waiting for trouble, and appearing to hope for trouble . . . the Republican party will have placed itself in the intolerable position of have a vested interest in the humiliation and defeat of the United States.”109

  Yet another columnist, Westbrook Pegler, took dead aim at Congress, calling members there a “miserable, fumbling, timid aggregation of political trimmers and panhandlers” that bowed down before organized labor. Members were incensed, including Clare Hoffman of Michigan, who said, “Oh, we can lick Mr. Hitler all right but he’s 2,000 miles away. But Pegler’s right here at home.” Hoffman called for a congressional investigation of Pegler.110

  Pegler also became a shrill critic of a young up-and-coming singer, Frank Sinatra. In a preview of later cultural phenoms such as Elvis Presley, the skinny kid from Hoboken, dubbed “The Voice,” was making teenage bobby-soxers swoon at the Paramount Theater in New York City. Social conservatives such as Pegler saw Sinatra as a threat to dec
ent society; it didn’t help that Sinatra was Italian, a flagrant philanderer, and an outspoken liberal. Pegler referred to the singer in his columns as a “New Deal Crooner”111 and a “Commie Playboy.”112

  In 1941, newspaper columnists wielded enormous power. Pegler and many other ink-stained wretches of the day delighted in taking potshots at the earnest do-gooder Sinatra, suggesting that he was a reprobate at best and a communist at worst. Sinatra’s vicious and unfair treatment at the hands of the press in the early 1940s helped explain his lifelong animosity toward the Fourth Estate, especially in his later years when the political outlook of Ol’ Blue Eyes grew decidedly more conservative.

  While Pegler decried the self-absorption of Sinatra’s screeching teenage fans, the self-absorption of Capitol Hill was long and legendary. Members were squawking about parking fees on the Hill, and Congressman Everett Dirksen, a Republican from Illinois, proposed price controls. He complained that while downtown garages charged 60 cents for eight hours, lots and garages on Capitol Hill charged at much as 25 cents for the first hour, 10 cents for the second hour, 5 cents per hour after that, a whole 5 cents more for eight hours.113

  Washington was still hopeful for a workable solution to the crisis with Japan. Meetings took place and an exchange of documents continued between the Japanese embassy and the State Department, and the diplomats continued talking. Some publications took a decidedly “wait and see this will all blow over” posture on developments in the Pacific. Others, like the Baltimore Sun, were more breathless. “A single additional act of aggression by Japan may be sufficient to provoke instant large-scale retaliation by British forces—with the United States taking an active supporting role,” greeted readers in Charm City the morning of December 2.114

  Roosevelt had had a light schedule that day, seeing now more than half a dozen people over the course of the day. He dined that evening with his personal secretary, Grace Tully, from 7:30 p.m. until twenty minutes after midnight. He then turned in at 12:35 a.m.115

  In a fashion, tensions seemed to have diminished in twenty-four hours, and while coverage of the situation in the Far East continued by the nation’s newspapers, it faded somewhat against the backdrop of the ongoing war in Europe. A columnist wrote, “If there is to be war, it will start under strange auspices. The American people have no hate in their hearts for the Japanese. For generations a mutual admiration has been developing between the two countries and, despite the differences in language and customs, some warm friendships have sprung up.”116

  CHAPTER 3

  THE THIRD OF DECEMBER

  “British Rush Troops to Libya”

  Sun

  “Nazis Rush Reinforcements”

  Tucson Daily Citizen

  “Tokyo Must Explain Actions”

  Washington Post

  “Airport Coffee Shop Refuses to Serve Colored Quartet”

  Washington Evening Star

  Winston Churchill, along with influential Jewish leaders in Great Britain, America, and Palestine, called for the creation of a separate “army of Jews” to fight in the war. Thousands of young men from Palestine, America, and other countries stepped forward to volunteer for the unique fighting force. “What people, what group have more at stake?” said Emanuel Neumann, an American Jewish leader. “Hitler has openly proclaimed the annihilation of European Jewry as one of his war aims.” Henry Stimson, secretary of war, voiced his support. Ultimately, “entrenched bureaucrats” inside the British government threw enough monkey wrenches into the works and the concept withered. One London bureaucrat smarmily said that the British government was fighting both the Nazis and “Zionism.”1

  Newspaper stories and editorials on the situation in the Pacific waned somewhat, as their attention was diverted to the Russian Front, the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and North Africa, where the real fighting was going on. The situation there was simply more pressing.

  More and more American correspondents were becoming embedded with Allied forces, especially with the British in North Africa, and poignant stories of heroism, humor, and sacrifice were appearing in American publications. One popular columnist, John Barry, sent back regular dispatches via his “War Diary” column.2 Photos and their captions of the African war zone had to be approved by the British before being released for publication in the West.3

  So it was with a good deal of news coverage that President Roosevelt publicly announced on December 3 that Lend-Lease aid would be extended to Turkey. In actuality, the U.S government had been covertly aiding the strategically important country for some time, as it was a target for takeover by Germany. Roosevelt said, “The defense of Turkey [is] vital to the defense of the United States.”4 Billions under Lend-Lease had already gone to Great Britain, Russia, Free French operations, and other allies in the war against the Axis powers. Allegations arose that Washington was playing favorites with its lending and leasing policies, putting Great Britain ahead of the Soviets, but Roosevelt’s spokesman, Stephen Early, dismissed them. Congress had just allocated $78 million more for Russia.5 It was later revealed that under Lend-Lease, FDR was also aiding India.6

  When it came to a president’s ability to make war, the Baltimore Sun editorialized in no uncertain terms, “We know from the experiences of other countries that Fascism results when the legislative branch of the Government surrenders to one man its powers to make decisions for the people. In the face of this same trend toward Fascism in America the immediate duty of the American people is to return to Congress only those representatives who faithfully execute the people’s trust.”7

  Meanwhile, Edward R. Murrow of CBS, already a journalistic legend, was the guest of honor at a dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria and in front of over one thousand celebrants said that “unless the United States enters this war Britain may perish.” The establishment was out in full force to honor a charter member of the establishment; telegrams were read from FDR, the British ambassador Lord Halifax, Secretary of State Cordell Hull, and Brendan Bracken, the British minister of information. Murrow went on to say the war would be decided along the “banks of the Potomac” and not in North Africa or on the Russian Front.8 By now, Halifax was sending daily confidential memos to Roosevelt, advising him on British advances and defeats.9

  The Philippines government first issued a confusing statement from President Quezon as to where it stood in the Pacific mess; it was blamed on a medical condition for which he received a complete checkup. He then issued a loyalty oath to FDR—and to the United States.10

  To checkmate German designs on Greenland, from where their subs and ships could more easily continue their now unrestricted warfare against American and British ships, the American military was contemplating its own bases along the east coast of Greenland, including the island of Jan Mayen, in an area that had been discovered by Henry Hudson in 1607. Germany had already conquered Norway, and its sights on Greenland were simply an extension of its plans to dominate the North Atlantic and, eventually, the world.11

  Russia, a large beneficiary of Lend-Lease, claimed anew to have successfully pushed back the German advance on Moscow and that their troops “were finding the frozen bodies of Germans wrapped in flimsy blankets; huddled in roadside ditches.”12 Russian troops also reported recapturing some towns first taken by the invading German army. Still, the information came from the state-owned media of the Soviet Union, and other news reports were less glowing about the Red Army’s successes. A news report from the Associated Press said that German troops had broken through the Soviet lines and were advancing once again on Moscow.13

  The British meanwhile were “reorganizing” in Libya,14 mounting an effort at a counteroffensive against Gen. Erwin Rommel and his 16th Panzer Division and the rest of the German “Afrika Korps” as reported by Edward Kennedy, an “Associated Press War Correspondent.”15

  Consternation was running high in America over Europe and to what extent Congress and America would allow FDR to set national policy. Secretary of State Cordell Hull emphasized the
disagreements with other countries including “the basic doctrines of law, justice, morals and equality of treatment among nations—especially in trade—and settlement of controversies by peaceful negotiation rather than by force.”16 Hull, in private, was not confident about a favorable outcome in the Far East.17 The issue of Japan, which had ebbed and flowed over the past several days, was beginning to flow again.

  More bluntly, the senator from Montana, Burton K. Wheeler, Democrat and first among America Firsters, acidly said, “The President’s foreign policy meant the plowing under of every fourth American boy. The only time the administration has intimated that we should go to war with Japan is when the British Empire is threatened.”18 Everybody in the Roosevelt White House hated Wheeler. Wheeler had already announced he would investigate “interventionists” in Hollywood.19 Just a year earlier, in 1940, John L. Lewis, head of the mine workers union and another isolationist and Roosevelt-basher, had tried to convince Wheeler to run for president.20