Had Roosevelt known the attack on Pearl Harbor was coming? Some critics have charged that the president deliberately contrived to bring war about. For months, American intelligence had been cracking some of Japan's secret codes. Much information indicated that Pearl Harbor was at risk. Yet Roosevelt left the fleet exposed, seeming almost to provoke an attack to bring the United States into the war. Was it mere coincidence that the vital aircraft carriers were at sea? That only the obsolete battleships were left at Pearl Harbor?

This argument, however is based on circumstantial, not documentary, evidence. Roosevelt's defenders (and they include most historians) have countered that he wanted to fight Germany more than Japan. If he really had wished to provoke an incident leading to war, one in Atlantic waters would have served him far better. More important, the intelligence signals intercepted by American code-breakers were confusing. Analysts lost track of the Japanese fleet as it moved toward Hawaii. Secretary of War Stimson had good reason to be astonished when the fleet attacked Pearl Harbor.

1			These two essays provide opposing views on whether President Roosevelt knew about the Pearl Harbor attack before it happened. Why does the pro-conspiracy author believe FDR did not publicize or try to prevent the impending attack? What evidence does he use to support his arguments? How does the anti-conspiracy author respond to these charges? Which argument do you find more compelling? Why? http://www.chroniclesmagazine.org/News/Trifkovic/NewsST120700.htm http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v16/v16n2p25_Bishop.html