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Other Topics => Off Topic Discussion => Topic started by: zelmo73 on December 07, 2013, 03:51:29 PM



Title: Pearl Harbor Day
Post by: zelmo73 on December 07, 2013, 03:51:29 PM
A day of remembrance for some, forgotten by many. Good tidings, and some interesting facts!  :cheers:


http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/day-of-infamy/ (http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/day-of-infamy/)


Teaching With Documents:

"'A Date Which Will Live in Infamy'"

The First Typed Draft of Franklin D. Roosevelt's War Address

Background

Early in the afternoon of December 7, 1941, President Franklin D. 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. At about 5:00 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. He had composed the speech in his head after deciding on a brief, uncomplicated appeal to the people of the United States rather than a thorough recitation of Japanese perfidies, as Secretary of State Cordell Hull had urged.

President Roosevelt then revised the typed draft—marking it up, updating military information, and selecting alternative wordings that strengthened the tone of the speech. He made the most significant change in the critical first line, which originally read, "a date which will live in world history." Grace Tully then prepared the final reading copy, which Roosevelt subsequently altered in three more places.

On December 8, at 12:30 p.m., Roosevelt addressed a joint session of Congress and the Nation via radio. The Senate responded with a unanimous vote in support of war; only Montana pacifist Jeanette Rankin dissented in the House. At 4:00 p.m. that same afternoon, President Roosevelt signed the declaration of war.

The document featured in this article, the typewritten draft, is housed at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library in Hyde Park, NY. (The library is administered by the National Archives and Records Administration.) Roosevelt misplaced his reading copy immediately following the speech; it remained missing for 43 years. Instead of bringing the reading copy back to the White House for Grace Tully to file, the President evidently left it in the House chamber, where he had given the address. A Senate clerk took charge of it, endorsed it "Dec 8, 1941, Read in joint session," and filed it. In March 1984 an archivist located the reading copy among the Records of the U.S. Senate, Record Group 46, located in the National Archives building, where it remains today.


Title: Re: Pearl Harbor Day
Post by: indianasmith on December 07, 2013, 11:22:45 PM
Thanks for an informative post!


Title: Re: Pearl Harbor Day
Post by: BoyScoutKevin on December 22, 2013, 04:10:00 PM
Jeanette Rankin was an interesting character. Not only did she dissent when Roosevelt requested a declaration of war from Congress, she also dissented when Wilson also requested a declaration of war from Congress. Though, that time, she had a little more support in Congress, as she was not the only one that dissented that time.
That dissent caused her to lose her House seat at the next election. She later ran again and won re-election to the House, only to dissent again, and lose her House seat again at the next election.

If any of you ever get out to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, the tickets to visit the "Arizona" are free, or, at least they were when I was there, which was a number of years ago. Though, at that time to get your ticket, you had to stand in line, and the line can get lengthy. Once you have your ticket, and the time to go out to the "Arizona," they show you a short film as to what it was like that day In Honolulu before the bombing began. They use to have also, after the film, one of the surviving veterans, who was there that day and survived, come out and give a short talk to the audience. But, I believe that has stopped, because any of the veterans that are still surviving are in such poor health, that that is no longer possible.

Then, after the film and the talk, they take you out on a boat, and you can then walk over the what remains of the "Arizona,' which lies on the bottom of Pearl Harbor.