Pearl Harbor

Winston Churchill had sensed "the gathering storm" of a coming war, even when others disagreed.  After the Munich pact, when Stalin and Hitler agreed to support each other, he was more than alarmed. 

Urging both America and his own country to arm (these are his speaking notes from a 1938 BBC broadcast), he had originally believed a tough policy against the aggressor nations of World War I would prevent future conflicts.  But when that policy did not materialize, and Hitler rearmed his country, Churchill thought the only way to resist future aggression was to be strong militarily. 

When Britain was dragged into the war, Churchill vowed his country would "never surrender."  When London was incessantly bombed by Germany, Winston urged the United States to notice and act.  The U.K. desperately needed help.

In one of his famous speeches ("This Was Their Finest Hour"), the new Prime Minister expressed concern about the world’s ability to withstand Adolf Hitler:

If we can stand up to him [Hitler] all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age...

On December 8, FDR addressed America. Churchill, of course, already knew the United States would now join the war. In his most-quoted speech, containing a significant but little-known change, President Roosevelt said:

Yesterday, 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.

The word that made his speech famous - "infamy" - was not the President’s original choice. Follow the link to see his first draft. His initial words were:

Yesterday, December 7, 1941 - a date which will live in world history...

Undoubtedly recognizing the speech (this link is the audio version) as the most important he would ever make, FDR substituted a memorable phrase for an ordinary one. And as the war dragged on people supported him and the war effort.

This war was different. The United States had been attacked. Throughout her history, America’s people always band together against outside threats. Yamamoto was right when he said:

I fear we wake a sleeping Giant.

But he was wrong when he and other military leaders assured the Japanese people their home islands were safe from attack.