4 ms·

My understanding was that there was a strong appetite to attack Japan in the US government, but that there was no domestic support, so US goals had to be achiev

• refurb 3y ago
  From what I gather, Japan's attack did come as a surprise. The two parties were at odds, but not to the point that a war was an immediate concern. No doubt some in the government wanted to attack, no different than you could find who want to attack Iran in today's government, but it's not the US government's position. FDR was definitely more interested in getting involved internationally, but the Republicans were staunchly isolationist. The comparison to Russia and Ukraine is there. Russia preemptively attacked Ukraine because it wanted to prevent NATO from getting a foothold in it's sphere of influence. Japan considering the Pacific Ocean and namely the resources in South East Asian there's, so preemptively attacked the US to prevent it from opposing it's control over the Pacific.
  • rajin444 3y ago
    > the Republicans were staunchly isolationist They were except for their nominee running against FDR in 1940. His interventionist stance (and otherwise complete lack of political experience) made FDRs victory all but assured. I’m not sure how you have a base so aligned on a topic that gives them an excellent chance on defeating the incumbent nominate a political nobody who holds a dissenting opinion. The same nobody who went on to serve in FDRs administration.