driving toward Mariupol. Mention of the Cossacks, to whom a special color
attached, always heightened reader interest. Meanwhile, the Germans continued
their attacks on Moscow, conceding the strength of Russian counterattacks. The
reader would have noted, in the ebb and f low of the Libyan campaign, that the
British appeared to have gained the initiative, but only in a series of small actions.
He might also see the Admiralty announcement of the destruction of a German
surface raider in the South Atlantic by HMS Dorsetshire. 1
The Threat of War: Precariously Balanced
But it was the critical situation in the Pacific that dominated the headlines of
the Sunday morning papers of December 7. Reports of heavy Japanese troop
concentrations on the borders of Indo-China had moved President Roosevelt to
send a personal message to Emperor Hirohito. It was a direct appeal to avoid war
in the Pacific as the result of a Japanese attack on Thailand, the strategic gateway
to both the Burma Road and the Malay Peninsula. 2
The President’s message was seen in an Associated Press dispatch 3 as a last resort to avert what it called an “open break” with Japan. It was thought that the
132 “Day of Infamy”: Sunday, December 7, 1941
President would communicate with the Emperor only when virtually all hope
had been abandoned of any kind of agreement through the usual diplomatic
channels. The Denver Post , reporting on the President’s message to the Emperor,
superimposed atop a portrait of the Emperor this headline: “ IS IT TO BE WAR?
HE HOLDS ANSWER .” 4
In The Washington Post , Rear Admiral Clark H. Woodward of the U.S. Navy
was blunt in his assessment:
In consequence, the issue of peace or war in the Pacific is precariously bal-
anced and rapidly approaching the crisis stage. A possible break is immi-
nent as the strain cannot last much longer. 5
This was a widely held opinion. Mark Sullivan, in The Washington Post , told his readers that the nation was “extremely close to war with Japan,” and that in truth,
the United States faced a world war, indeed an indivisible war in which it would
not be possible to separate a war with Japan from a war with Germany. 6
The Houston Chronicle reported that the negotiations between America and
Japan hung in the balance; that Tokyo’s next move would determine whether
there was to be peace or war. 7
And everywhere there were preparations for war. In Manila, President Manuel
Quezon called for the immediate evacuation of all “non-essential” civilians from
Manila. The areas to be evacuated would be fixed after consultation with Gen-
eral Douglas MacArthur, Commander of U.S. Forces in the Far East. Singapore
ordered all fighting men to their ships and barracks. Thousands came from foot-
ball fields, theaters, and clubs to respond to these calls while the mobilization of
Straits Settlements volunteers was completed. Australia announced that it would
send ships, planes, and men to protect the Netherlands East Indies. 8
The Netherlands East Indies commander, Lieutenant General Hein ter Poorten,
was expansive about his military preparations. His plans for the defense of the
Indies had originally been predicated, he observed, solely on the defense of its
main islands. But the strength of its air arm had so grown, largely thanks to ship-
ments of modern American planes, that the outer island would instead become
the first line of defense and bases for offensive possibilities. 9
There were, to be sure, more optimistic opinions. Constantine Brown, a syndi-
cated news analyst writing in the Houston Chronicle and The Denver Post , thought that the Pacific crisis had been postponed at least for the moment. This was, he
thought, a change from only a week ago, when informed Washington circles were
betting ten-to-one that the guns would be heard before the end of the week. For
this, he gave credit to Secretary of State Cordell Hull: Hull’s combination of high
ideals and Tennessee stubbornness had enabled him to stand fast in the face of
increasing Japanese pressure. 10 , 11
Even more optimistic was Chicago Tribune columnist Harold E. Fey. He thought
that Japan, facing revolution and chaos, would be unable to continue the wars it
had already started, to say nothing of a new war with America. Japan was bank-
rupt, he claimed, in all the necessities of life at even a low level, with vital com-
modities virtually unobtainable. Japan had lost confidence in its leaders, who were
A Quiet Morning in America 133
running in a race the goals of which were constantly receding. The consequence
of all this was that the Japanese people had arrived at a state beyond which no one
could drive them further. 12
America’s Role: Arduous Preparations
The shadow of impending crisis notwithstanding, America was enjoying its quiet
Sunday morning on December 7. But the Sunday papers were full of reports and
rumors of war—other people’s wars. Noah Hampson was a steelworker from
Waterbury, Connecticut. He was described in The New York Times as a little
forty-two-year-old man with long graying hair and a puckish smile. He had first
joined the Canadian Army, serving in France and Belgium and later transferred
to the Royal Armored Corps. As the gunner of the U.S.-built tank “Sleepy,” he
had bagged five German tanks in North African fighting. He was asked what
he missed in Libya. “Boy, what I’d give for a drink of rye,” was Mr. Hampson’s
response. Clearly he was an example of Yankee pluck and grit who would acquit
himself well serving in an American uniform. 13
If Mr. Hampson was engaged in a shooting war, a peaceful America was in the
midst of arduous preparations for war. Recent large-scale maneuvers had shown
progress that gave rise to restrained optimism. Indeed, instead of a force that could
fight without disgracing itself and its traditions, General George C. Marshall, Army
Chief of Staff, defined his goal as the finest army in the world. He would not be
satisfied until he commanded an army that was better trained, better equipped and
better led than any other in the world. This was understood to mean the German
Wehrmacht that it might one day face. 14
Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox, writing in the Chicago Tribune , was more
expansive than the notoriously reticent General Marshall. He spoke not of the
future but of that day, December 7. He did not hesitate to call the U.S. Navy the
finest in the world. He enlarged upon his topic:
I am proud to report that the American people may feel fully confident in
their Navy. In my opinion, the loyalty, morale and technical ability of the
personnel are without superior. On any comparable basis, the American
navy is second to none. 15
He further reported a list of combat vessels under construction that included
17 battleships, 12 aircraft carriers, 54 cruisers, 74 submarines, and 197 destroyers.
A young poet named Herman Wouk was inspired by the launching of one of
these battleships to compose “The Rhyme of the BB-66,” which was read over the
Treasury Radio Hour. The reader may judge the extent to which Wouk’s poetry,
which appeared in The New York Times Sunday Magazine, matched the i
nspiration
behind it:
It is the BB-66
That they launched today at three,
The mighty BB-66
That was built to keep men free
134 “Day of Infamy”: Sunday, December 7, 1941
FIGURE 11.1 See color plate section.
Poster by Thomas Woodburn. Courtesy of Northwestern University Library World War II poster collection, 2589267.
And the people’s roar wells up from the shore
As she slides into the sea.
He paid tribute to an ethnic roster of builders: New Englander William Lodge;
Big Jake Leanevic, the Pole; Norway’s Otto Peterson; “colored Dixie Joe,” who
A Quiet Morning in America 135
was not given the dignity of a last name; and Dutch captain Paul DeVries. Though
the tone was epic, the rhyming pattern and the meter—“there’s a nation’s pride in
her iron side,” “there’s the Christian dream in her metal gleam” and “to defend
the sod where men served God”—seemed eerily reminiscent of “The Shooting
of Dan McGrew.”
Let us give the poet his voice and his due:
Oh, when the ship goes down the ways,
There’s more on her ribs than steel;
The hope and love of a thousand men
Are built into her keel.
Strong with the blood of the free and brave,
Ah, but proud she will ride to the wave
For her high, clear destiny is to save
Her land from a tyrant’s heel! 16
America’s Role: Isolationists Holding Firm
But there were those who did not wish to associate themselves with events in
the tumultuous world outside American borders. Instead they wished to detach
themselves and the country as best they could from those events. The America
First Committee announced it would throw its full strength into the spring pri-
mary and fall election campaigns to stop America’s drift toward fascism and one-
man rule. The Committee planned twenty rallies in twenty large cities. Among
the speakers would be Charles A. Lindbergh, Senators Nye and Clark, and for-
mer Governor of Oklahoma W. H. “Alfalfa Bill” Murray. The Committee had
recently lost some prominent members, including New Dealer General Hugh
Johnson and philanthropist Lessing Rosenwald, but it had gained new members
among whom were the celebrated dancer, Irene Castle, and Governor Murray. 17
The homeland of isolationism was the Middle West and its voice the Chicago
Tribune . The Tribune ’s concerns were not limited to the international arena. It took a dark view of the President and his administration. To the Tribune that day, there seemed to be those who favored a revolutionary change in American life, bringing
it closer to government control than ever Lenin and Trotsky had planned in the
summer of 1917. There were those, the Tribune thundered, who thought that the
system of private capital had reached its limit and must be replaced by the firmer
direction of government. The Tribune gloomily saw communist influence within
the functions of government and its propaganda agencies, paving the way for what
it called “the fulfillment of the revolution. ” 18
Liberty and Justice for All: Restrictive Covenants
Readers of The Washington Post were informed of a significant decision by Judge Matthew F. McGuire of the District Court upholding restrictive covenants
against the sale of Washington real property to “Negroes.” Mr. and Mrs. Fred-
eric F. Hundley had acquired title to the home on which they had spent more
136 “Day of Infamy”: Sunday, December 7, 1941
than $2,000 in improvements through the transfer of title from the Home Own-
ers Loan Corporation, in a transaction in which the restrictive covenant was not
mentioned. The judge nevertheless upheld the limitation, observing that the
validity of such covenants had been generally upheld and that such restrictions
were solemn contracts that were not to be casually set aside. 19
Liberty and Justice for All: Showing the Way
Herman Wouk was far from alone in his commitment to his ideals. At Bookman
Technical High School in New York, a cast of 1,000 put on “Road to Freedom,”
billed as “a dramatization of the age-long struggle for freedom and democracy.”
It portrayed Abraham Lincoln reading the Emancipation Proclamation to a
group of slaves. Benjamin Franklin was portrayed by Jerome Hymowitz, with
Joseph Baumhart as Thomas Jefferson, Herbert Schmale as Patrick Henry and
Burt Dror as Sam Adams, all of Midwood High School. In a related scene, Fred
Schumer and Harold Grossman, both of Seward Park High School, took the parts
of Mussolini and Adolf Hitler, though to what effect The Times did not report. 20
The same magazine section of The Times gave a panoramic view of Linden
Vista in San Diego, where 3,000 houses were being built on a 1,240-acre site to
be occupied by aircraft workers. A typical partially prefabricated home would
extend to 720 square feet, including two bedrooms, a living room, alcove, kitchen,
and bath. 21
The power of war and the threat of war can often give rise to social change.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the directors of the Medical Women’s Asso-
ciation had sent resolutions to the President asking that women doctors be admit-
ted to serve in the Army and Navy on equal terms and with the same privileges
as men. 22
Life in These United States: Last Morning at Peace
The urge to be a part, however tangentially, of the great events that were unfold-
ing across the world spurred vigorous activity in the world of Society. Mrs. Ker-
mit Roosevelt was to give a luncheon at her home to launch a Christmas drive
by Young America Wants to Help, the Junior Division of the British War Relief
Society, an American organization founded in 1939 to provide humanitarian aid
to Britain. The funds raised since October 1940 totaled more than $150,000 and
would be used to buy necessities for British children.
The roster of the British War Relief Society could well be defined as the Amer-
ican Establishment. These are a few of the extensive membership of the Society’s
committee: Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt, Mrs. Wendell Willkie, Mrs. Marshall Field,
Mrs. John G. Winant, Mrs. E. Roland Harriman, Mrs. Learned Hand, Mrs. Vin-
cent Astor, Mrs. Steven Vincent Benet, Mrs. Arthur Hays Sulzberger and Mrs. W.
Averell Harriman.
Not to be outdone by the British War Relief Society, the Free French Relief
Committee scheduled the Renoir Ball for December 17. This sumptuous event
A Quiet Morning in America 137
would include a reception in the Palm Court of the Plaza Hotel, a buffet supper
in the Oval Room and dancing. The feature of the evening would be the presen-
tation of a series of tableaux vivants interpreting Renoir paintings. The presenters of the tableaux were to include Miss Francesca Braggiotti and Mr. John Lodge in
“Dancing in the Town”; Miss Josette Daly as “The Lady by the Sea”; Miss Helen
Menken in “Lady at the Piano”; and Miss Diana Barrymore as “The Dancer.” All
this would be climaxed by Miss Lily Pons, as sympathetic a representative of France
as could be found in New York that evening, who would step forth from a picture
frame and burst into song.
Another event in the plann
ing stage that Sunday was the Diamond Jubilee Ball
celebrating President Roosevelt’s sixtieth birthday. It was to be held on January
30 at the Waldorf Astoria for the benefit of the National Foundation for Infantile
Paralysis and its Greater New York Chapter. The President was the leader and the
embodiment of the New Deal. He was the champion of the Forgotten Man, not
to mention the unmentioned forgotten woman. He was also the scourge of the
economic royalists, the man whose fireside chats had touched the hearts of the
nation and conveyed his concern for that one-third of the nation that was ill fed,
ill clad and ill housed. But the President’s ties to the aristocracy from which he
had emerged remained intimate, as evidenced by the organizers of this event. The
honorary chairman was to be Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt, presumably fresh from
her labors at the British War Relief Society. She had called a meeting of her com-
mittee to be held in the Green Room of La Salle du Bois to discuss a midnight
entertainment program, which would in costume, commentary, and song present
highlights of the last sixty years. There was to be a Debutantes’ Committee headed
by Miss Frederica de Peyster Lawrence that would be charged with the decora-
tions. A Junior Committee would complete the organization. 23
*
On a lighter note, The New York Times Sunday Magazine offered a feature story
on “The Quizzical College Girl.” Its study of the tweed-skirted, saddle-shoe-
shod, bright-eyed girls took place at Bryn Mawr College, then as now a single-
gender institution.
It found the girls not particularly sure of where they were heading. About a
sixth of the seniors would marry shortly after graduation; a third would marry
before thirty. Of those gainfully employed, three out of five would be teachers.
They were not particularly engaged in the international crisis. These girls were
not the determined collegians of the 1900s, the jazz extremists of the twenties or
the untidy intellectuals of the thirties. They were starry-eyed but earnest, sincere,
and limitlessly energetic. They were, The Times concluded, sound young people
fed up with the ivory tower. They might come down with a thump but they
would survive. 24
*
Far from the Bryn Mawr campus, far from the ballrooms of the Plaza and the
Crucible of a Generation Page 22