At about 5 p.m., following meetings with his military advisers, the President calmly and decisively dictated to his secretary, Grace Tully, a request to Congress for a declaration of war.
Roosevelt and his chief foreign policy aide, Harry Hopkins, were interrupted by a telephone call from Secretary of War Henry Stimson and told that the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor. Instantly, the incident united the American people in a massive mobilization for war and strengthened American resolve to guard against any future lapse of military alertness.Įarly in the afternoon of December 7, 1941, President Franklin D. Though diplomatic relations between the United States and Japan were deteriorating, they had not yet broken off at the time of the attack. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor catapulted the United States into World War II. Pacific Fleet was devastated, and more than 3,500 Americans were killed or wounded. naval base on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, had been subject to an attack that was one of the greatest military surprises in the history of warfare. Immediately afterward, Congress declared war, and the United States entered World War II. Roosevelt concluded by asking Congress to declare that a state of war existed between the United States and Japan. He expressed outrage at Japan and confidence in the “inevitable triumph” of the United States. His famous “Day of Infamy” speech was a call to arms. Roosevelt delivered this joint address to Congress on December 8, 1941, the day after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. This is the official copy of FDR's speech presented to the Senate.