December 1941

by Craig Shirley

  The newspapers began keeping charts of ships lost and how much tonnage, like box scores of a baseball game.

  A one-page memo marked “Confidential” was sent to Roosevelt disputing a rumor that Adolf Hitler had been shot. A garbled communication had previously said, “Big Chief shot down,” but it was later disproven. (The memo was almost completely redacted.)61 Also, the ever-present seemingly daily memo from “there is more here than you realize” John Franklin Carter went into a recent unpleasant meeting with “Mr. Astor” (that would be Vincent) over recruitment of civilians in the New York City area. The memo was so circumspect, so guarded, wary, and inscrutable, one could be excused if they thought Carter was referring to underworld figures. “We . . . agreed as to future lines of cooperation and I arranged immediately to establish contact between him and the man who really heads my work in his area.”62

  On the same day, Roosevelt also signed a bill awarding $830 to a man who three years earlier had suffered personal injuries when “his right foot was crushed between a subway car and a loading platform” in the U.S. Capitol. FDR agreed that the government should pay the damages on the advice of the architect of the Capitol.63

  That night, Eleanor Roosevelt entertained a Christmas party at the White House with 112 guests, but the president did not attend, preferring to have his supper on a tray in the private residence of the White House while working the phones.

  To help reinforce the American army garrison in Manila, FDR ordered the 970 Marine Corps officers and enlisted men who had been stationed in Peking to leave immediately. That meant a big financial hit for these Americans; in China, a dollar purchased about $18 in goods and services. Marines had been stationed in China for almost one hundred years, but FDR wanted them out before they became engaged in fighting the Japanese in China rather in the Philippines, where it was presumed they would be safer.64

  Even with Chiang Kai-shek holding power and doing his best to hold off the invading Japanese, over the years, the American marines had quarreled and fought with Chinese nationals. However, some three hundred American pilots continued to fly with the Chinese nationals, having been encouraged by Washington to “resign” from the Army Air Corps citing “arthritis” and “lumbago” but being told their rank would be waiting for them anytime their maladies cleared up.65

  The Japanese had denied they had 80,000 to 100,000 troops in Indochina and they were right.66 The number was more like 125,000, with another 150,000 in transit. “This force is composed of Japan’s best divisions, veterans of the Chinese war, picked guards regiments from the islands, and some of the Kwantung army ‘toughs.’”67 People often forget that Tojo and Hitler were soldiers in arms, bent on world conquest, and that if Hitler was capable of duplicity—then so too was Tojo. The Tripartite Pact bound them together in that mutual quest for world power. Some also foolishly thought that to fight one was not to fight both; but in fact, a fight with one was a fight with all the Axis powers.

  Meanwhile, in Tokyo, the American ambassador, the skillful and experienced Joseph C. Grew, was just as frustrated as Cordell Hull. The Japanese were also violating the rule governing the treatment afforded diplomatic representatives. Grew found “himself in a complete diplomatic back-out. For several days he has not been able to transmit to the State Department other information than the official statements carried in the Tokyo press.”68

  The famed Karl Decker “ace correspondent for William Randolph Hearst during the Spanish-American War” died at the age of seventy-three.69 He was the reporter depicted in the movie Citizen Kane who sent a telegram to Charles Foster Kane informing him there was no war in Cuba, to which Kane replied, “You provide the prose poems, I’ll provide the war.” Indeed, the Hearst newspapers beat the explosion of the USS Maine like a toy drum, drumming America into the war. Over the years, some had suspected the Maine exploded because of a faulty boiler and not because of a nefarious bombing plot by the Spanish, but Hearst whipped up public opinion anyway. Decker had gallivanted the world as an intrepid journalist, and his kind would soon become a dying breed.

  Since 1932 and the rise of the New Deal, the Republican Party struggled for relevancy. For nine years, they had simply not been a part of the national debate, save a few leaders like Senator Robert Taft and 1940 presidential nominee Wendell Willkie, who between them agreed on very little. The Young Republicans met in Kansas, one of only a handful of states Willkie had taken in the 1940 election. People in Republican circles look back on the campaign and claimed it was close, but that was a relative concept. It was closer than 1936, when Roosevelt wiped the floor with Alf Landon, winning over 98 percent of the electoral vote, but the truth was he also skunked Willkie in 1940, taking 449 electoral votes to the Republican nominees 82 and winning the popular vote by 10 percent.

  At the GOP gathering in Topeka, Alf Landon and Joe Martin, minority leader in the House, exhorted the Republicans, but most simply claimed they were relevant when all evidence was to the contrary. Martin disputed that the GOP was not “a strong, virile, vigorous party destined to come back into power.” He warned, “Wait till the people get their tax bills next March and in March, ’43.” This was the era before withholding; Americans could keep all their earnings until March, when they would receive a tax bill from the federal government for what was owed on April 15. Landon complained about government corruption, especially in national defense and that the “administration controls the radio” and eviscerated “one-man government.”70

  The majority Roosevelt Democrats were unconcerned about the minority Republicans. Indeed, there may have been people more in the Roosevelt family than there were in the Republican party, as Eleanor Roosevelt purchased “bedroom slippers for 22 children” in her family, including both children and grandchildren.71 She was also busy with Christmas entertaining in the White House, including those visitors from many of the foreign embassies in Washington such as “young ladies from the Central and South American republics.”72

  Booze flowed freely across the country and in the White House for the season, and every publication was studded with ads for hard liquors, wines, and beer. One of FDR’s first acts had been the repeal of the controversial Eighteenth Amendment, which attempted to prohibit alcohol in America. Many regarded it as one of FDR’s greatest accomplishments, but the bitter enders of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union hadn’t given up. They issued a report saying that since 1933, Americans had consumed over $23 billion worth of booze or, 13,924,871,297 gallons of adult beverages.73 Many Americans simply lifted their glasses at parties and toasted the president for his sagacity. At those parties, chocolate was plentiful and popular, going for 19 cents per pound. And for the next morning after too much drinking and eating, a tin of Anacin tablets sold for 14 cents.74

  Along with the Republicans, the National Association of Manufacturers was struggling for relevance. Business, especially big business, had been a dirty word since 1929. Nonetheless, the N.A.M. at their annual meeting came up with some radical ideas for government that included: “Make investments attractive by allowing both business and individuals who risk their money to keep enough earnings to make the venture worthwhile.” They also suggested, “Have tax policies which encourage, not penalize, reserves, and savings.” They embraced radical ideas about government spending and regulations.75

  By now, nearly everything was politicized or colored by the war. “Hitler’s propaganda department went to some trouble recently to prove that Mozart was really a German and in that case it was all right for the citizens of the Reich to hear and enjoy the compositions of the great master.” In fact, Mozart “was born in Austria in 1756.”76 In New York, a concert celebrating the composer’s 150th anniversary of his death was held and conducted by Bruno Walter, a Jew who had fled Germany where he was born Bruno Schlesinger.

  Walter had been in Austria during the Anschluss, and though he was born in Berlin, he renounced his citizenship and sought asylum and citizenship in America, even after the Germans asked him to becom
e an “honorary French citizen.” Having conducted orchestras in Boston, Berlin, Vienna, Munich, London, and with the Detroit Symphony, Walter considered himself a citizen of the world, and an opinionated one at that. He hated jazz music, saying it was “like looking at Rembrandt through a distorted mirror.” The inspiration of the Salzburg Music Festival, he recommended listening to the works of Wagner, even though his music had become the unofficial music of the Third Reich. Walter said, “We are making war against the Nazis, not against the composers.” He also called the war a fight “between the forces of good and evil.”77

  The same politicization applied to American movies and Hollywood. Nathan Golden, the motion picture consultant at the Commerce Department, reported that American films remained popular in Europe, even as some were not being shown because “the Nazis exercise a rigid censorship over the films shown in the conquered areas.” Still, of those American movies that did air in Great Britain and other unoccupied countries, “export markets react unfavorably to pictures that play up scenes of sordid wretchedness, reckless lawbreaking, alleged social injustice, or any phase of squalid, shiftless life.”78

  Some things escaped the tar of war. Newspapers featured daily columns out of Hollywood, authored by Hedda Hopper, her hated rival, Louella Parsons, and Harold Heffernan. In these columns, Americans delighted to read about a lunch between Bob Hope and Rita Hayworth, or “Are Hollywood’s ‘name’ ladies in the midst of a crackup epidemic?” According to Heffernan, Loretta Young, Irene Dunne, and Joan Fontaine were all showing the stress of movie making and all had been hospitalized or taken to bed for “protracted rest spells.”79

  Plenty of guidance columns filled the newspapers with advice for the lovelorn and information about personal hygiene, exercising, cooking, and FDR’s dog, Fala. And Mrs. Roosevelt’s “My Day” was popular as it was light on politics and heavy on her life as a wife, mother, and grandmother. When she did slip into politics, she made clear her opposition to women in combat, but was most definitely in favor of saving excess wrapping paper and string.80

  “Animal interest” stories delighted readers, and one, about a dog named Sport, should have been shown to Fala so he could know how lucky he was. Sport was first run over by a train and lost an eye. Then he was run over by a car, but survived. Barely. Then Sport was run over by another car and lived long enough to be accidentally backed over by his owner’s wife. Just as the dog’s owner, Grover Lee, was digging a hole to bury the dog, Sport sprang to life and was seen later out hunting quail with his master in Georgia.81 In New Jersey, a cat named Whitey fell forty-five feet into a dried up well, survived the fall, and went three days without food or water before finally being rescued.82

  On Friday, December 5, radio programming was light on news, heavy on the soaps, comedians, serials, and specials, such as Kate Smith’s All-American Football Team and The Lone Ranger, although at 9:15 on WOL in Washington was a special, What Price Defense? featuring an interview with Emory S. Land, head of the U.S. Maritime Commission.83 A new show was also debuting across the nation, Shirley Temple Time.84

  Georgians were stunned to learn that ten state colleges in the university system were academically decertified because of “political interference” by the governor, Eugene Talmadge. A virulent racist, he charged the schools with “teaching of whites and Negros in the same schools.” He attempted to take pro-integration members of the Board of Regents off and replace them with political cronies who would do his bidding. In retaliation, the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools stripped ten of eleven Georgia schools of their academic status and thousands of undergraduates were left high and dry. It was a huge issue in the state and indeed the entire South for days.85

  Farmers were getting better prices for their crops than in previous years and at Christmas time were delighted to find they, for once, had some “folding money” in their pockets. Employment—mostly because of the war effort—was up over the prior year, as was real income, and the Commerce Department forecast heavier outlays for the Christmas of ’41 than the previous year. However, the cost of living for the average American had also gone up 11 percent over the last twelve months.86 The government urged consumers to control their spending, issuing guidelines and admonishing Americans to be careful with their money, while at the same time Washington was engaging in a massive bond drive, urging Americans to spend lavishly and buy as many defense savings bonds as possible, so the government could spend more on the war effort. Keynesian economics taught on the first day of class that government spending did not produce inflation, but consumer spending did.

  Initial reports from the Treasury Department said the bond sales were strong, and the government was generating over $1 billion.87 Preorders showed the danger of a possible oversubscription, but it also fit in with the new normal of America, circa 1941. The Great Depression was still a part of America’s economic life, and few had escaped its terrors without being scarred for life. For every banker or Wall Street broker who jumped (no doubt cheered on by thousands), there were tens of thousands who lost their homes, their jobs, and their dignity, who scrapped and struggled just to get a decent meal into their children once a day.

  As money and hope flowed from the New Deal and the alphabet soup of agencies and bureaus created by FDR’s “Brain Trust,” the country stabilized, but the economy did not expand and the days of “wonderful nonsense” of the 1920s were over. People who did have jobs saved their money, living on a “cash basis,” and that included purchasing government bonds, many thinking that it would help stabilize their government. But because of government programs and the new frugality, there was not much in the way of consumer borrowing, which also hampered economic growth. No one wanted to be caught with too much debt and too little cash ever again. And it was a simple and direct act of patriotism for liberals to support FDR and for conservatives to support their constitutional government.

  The privately held Alabama Power Company took out newspaper ads to announce that the power restrictions had been lifted and its customers were invited to “unrestricted use of electricity service.”88 The company clearly was attempting to encourage customers to use more electricity as a means of generating additional profits. The order came down from Washington’s Office of Production Management, which seemed to have its hands in everything. Georgia Power also ran identical ads announcing “Blackout lifted.”89 Again, the national government was sending conflicting signals.

  Even so, a spiffy double-breasted suit for a boy was retailing for $9.88 while “Longies” were going for $2.98 a piece.90 All the department stores in the country touted long, “leisure hour” robes for women, in the style made famous by Rita Hayworth and other Hollywood actresses. The hemline of skirts and dresses had already moved up to just below the knee. Also, long hair was very much in style for women, especially younger women. Hair was up for evening and formal occasions but curled and quaffed and about the shoulders during the day. Of course, no stylish woman went out in public without a hat. Neither did men. American women’s hair styles were only regulated by popular fashion, unlike in Japan, where the government only allowed four approved hair styles for women.

  At Rogers Jewelers store in Boston, a five-tube countertop radio—a Superheterodyne—could be purchased for $9.95 or just 50 cents down and 50 cents per week.91 General Electric lightbulbs, the 40, 50, and 60 watt versions, were going for 13 cents apiece while the 75 and 100 watt bulbs were going for 15 cents per.92 In Philadelphia, bags of mail stolen nearly ninety years earlier—long before the Civil War—were found in an attic of a home. All the envelopes had been opened in an obvious search for money, but the real value now was the stamps.93 Philatelists like FDR drooled at the thought of pouring over the thousands of cancelled envelopes.

  Tens of thousands of American GIs were traversing the country, the lucky ones on their way home in time for Christmas. It was not unusual to see convoys of hundreds of trucks and thousands of uniformed men heading for their home base before heading
home. For most, home was priority, war a distant thought.

  But news dispatches on December 5 said the American flyers fighting with the Chinese were just “itching” to get after Japanese pilots. Also the story noted that the Japanese had not yet taken the Burma Road using airplanes for aerial bombardment campaigns because they hadn’t thought of that “vital overlooked method of attack. . . .”94

  And the Los Angeles Times, in an editorial on the whole matter of Japan and the United States, wrote on Friday morning that while war could be imminent, it appeared “that nothing decisive will be forthcoming till next week, if then.”95

  At week’s end, the editorial pages of America’s newspapers were filled with speculations and analysis of the preceding several days. Nearly all concluded that the country was moving closer to war with Japan. All the pieces speculated on Thailand, Indochina, the Philippines, Singapore, and other locales in the Far East. With the exception of some internal documents generated by the navy, including ones from Adm. Husband Edward Kimmel, newly installed head of the Pacific Fleet based on Pearl Harbor, no one else was speculating on whether the Japanese might strike elsewhere.

  Japan’s consulate in Mexico City was being hurriedly evacuated, and the staff had at first requested visas from the U.S. government to leave for Japan via Los Angeles, but they were then advised by their government that they would depart from Mexico, via the port at Manzanillo. The Japanese minister to Mexico, Yoshiaki Miura, worriedly held, “Only God knows how this crisis will be resolved.”96

  CHAPTER 6