133on december 7, 1941, franklin D. Roosevelt suddenly found himself
the leader of a nation at war—the wrong war. Japanese strikes on Pearl
Harbor and the Philippines plunged the United States into confl ict in
the Pacifi c. But the president had regarded Germany under Adolf Hitler
as posing the fundamental threat to American security. With that in
mind, he had looked for ways to provoke a German attack that would
justify American entry into the war on the side of Great Britain and the
Soviet Union. Although Roosevelt also expected to fi ght Japan at some
point, he intended to put off this confl ict until American forces were
better prepared, at least until spring 1942. Now he would have to ask
Congress to declare war on the less dangerous enemy, and it seemed
American military resources would have to be directed away from the
principal menace. As Wilson had learned when he ceded to Berlin dis-
cretion over American entry into the First World War, Roosevelt discov-
ered he exercised less control over events than he believed.
However, just days later, on December 11, 1941, Hitler unexpectedly
declared war on the United States, resolving FDR’s dilemma. Th is chain
of events points to a critical element in war: a great deal depends on what
historian Stephen Ambrose calls “dumb luck.” Roosevelt got the war he
wanted, but not because of clever diplomacy or planning on his part.
3
Freedom of Action
Franklin Roosevelt