How Americans were split over the war in 1940 and 1941, what the attack on December 7 did to that argument, and how Congress, the America First movement and the public responded in the days after, ending with film of Roosevelt's Day of Infamy address.
Narrated with an AI-generated voice. On history we take a side where the record is settled; on today's news we show every side.
Corrections and notes
- The Lindbergh and Hoover quotes are excerpts of longer statements; both continue past the words quoted.
- The film at the end is a 2 minute 55 second excerpt of Roosevelt's address, not the whole speech. It is U.S. Army Signal Corps footage courtesy of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (RG-60.0673).
Sources
- Gallup polls, 1940 (help England vs. keep out; stay out of the war)
- President Roosevelt''s address to Congress, Dec. 8, 1941, National Park Service
- Declaration of war on Japan: Senate 82-0, House 388-1, Visit the Capitol (Senate records)
- Lindbergh''s Dec. 8, 1941 statement, Waikato Times, Dec. 10, 1941 (Papers Past)