The Great Depression, the New Deal, and World War II 237manders in the field understood the military capability of the Japanese.
Roosevelt, Hull, and General Douglas MacArthur, commander of the
armed forces in the Philippines, had no idea of the intentions of the Japa-
nese, and as a consequence the United States suffered the most devastat-
ing military defeat in its entire history up to that time.
Roosevelt had just finished lunch when Secretary of War Henry L.
Stimson informed him of the attack at Pearl Harbor. The President im-
mediately summoned the leaders in Congress to meet with him that eve-
ning. The next day he appeared before a joint session. He mounted the
rostrum, supported by his son James, a member of the lower chamber, and
addressed the assembled members, cabinet officers, Supreme Court jus-
tices, and a large number of men of the foreign diplomatic corps.
“Yesterday,” the determined-toned President began, “December 7 ,
1941 —a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America
was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the
Empire of Japan.... I ask that Congress declare that since the unpro-
voked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December seventh, a
state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese
Empire.”
When the joint session ended at 12 : 40 PM, the Senate returned to
its chamber and unanimously voted for war. In the House the resolu-
tion would have been unanimous save for the negative vote of Jeannette
Rankin of Montana, who had also voted against a declaration of war in
1917. The resolutions from both houses were rushed to Roo sevelt, who
signed them at 4 : 10 PM. Three days later, on December 11 , both Ger-
many and Italy, in compliance with the Triple Treaty, declared war on
the United States. On the same day Congress replied with similar dec-
larations, and this time Rankin simply voted “present.”
General George Marshall, who had been serving as Army Chief of
Staff since 1939, continued in the position until the end of the war.
Admiral Ernest J. King was chosen Chief of Naval Operations. Later
Marshall and King each received the new fi ve-star rank of General of
the Army and Admiral of the Fleet, respectively.
The anger, ou tr age, and thirst for revenge by Americans
against the Japanese on account of the “dastardly” attack on Pearl