Freedom, Society, and State - Ludwig von Mises Institute

determine and an examination of this aspect of the
theory is not possible here.
However, influenced by the New Left historians
man y an arc his t s, a s we have seen , be 1 ie ve that Pres i ­
dent Roosevelt intentionally maneuvered the United
States into a war with Japan in order to stimulate the
economy and reduce unemployment. In view of the overrid
i n g his tor i c a limp 0 r tanceof Ame rica's en try i n t 0
W0 rid Wa r I I, 0 nemus t ask: i s t his i.n t e r pretat ion consistent
with the available evidence? This much is beyond
dispute. Even as late as the early 1940's the
economy was still sluggish and unemployment high. The
Japanese code had been broken and the leaders in
Was h i n g ton, inc Iud i ng Ro 0 s eve1 t, knew t hat the J a pane s e
were preparing to attack the United States, probably on
Dec e mb e r 7, but the exact tar get wasst ill un c e r t a in.
And, Kimmel and Short at Pearl Harbor were not adeq
u.a tel yap p r i zed 0 f t his i n for rna t ion. The reason s for
this have never been clear. In Infamy, the most
recent study of Pearl Harbor, historian John Toland
argues that as the Office of Naval Intelligence monitor
ed the approach of the Japanese a t tack force, Roosevelt
was faced with three options: [1] publicize the
fact that the U.S. was tracking the Japanese carrier
fleet. This "would indubitably have forced Japan to
turn back;" [2] take appropriate military measures inc
Iud i ngin for min g Ki mm e 1 and Sh0 r t • Sinc e the suec e s s
of the Japanese attack depended upon secrecy, this too
would have forced them to turn back; and [3] keep
Kimmel and Short and "all but a select few in ignorance."
Ths last option is logical only on the assumpt
ion t hat i twa s Roos eve 1t 's i n ten t ion toge t Ame rica
i n tot hewa r. Thus, the thesis t hat Ro 0 s eveltdesir e d
war in order to stimulate the economy is at least consistent
with the known facts surrounding the Pearl
Harbor catastrophe. But this by no means proves the
thesis, for it is not the only one that is consistent
wit h the d a t a . Anot her ex pIanat ion i s t hat Ro 0 s eve I t
sincerely believed that the total destruction of
Western civilization was a distinct possiblity in the
absence of American intervention against Nazi Germany.
Since the country was badly divided on the issue he required
some dramatic event which would unify the nation
and galvanize the American people for the Crusade to
save Western civilization. As Toland puts it, "The
first bomb dropped on Oahu would have finally solved
the pro b 1 em 0 f get tin g a n Am e ric a - - hal f 0 f wh 0 s e
people wanted peace -- into the crusade against
Hitler ."(53) Roosevelt's mistake, says Toland, is that
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