President Roosevelt and the Coming of the War, 1941: Appearances and Realities

by Beard,Charles

• ISBN13: 9780765809988
• ISBN10: 0765809982
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2003-05-31
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Conceived by Charles Beard as a sequel to his provocative study of American Foreign Policy in the Making, 19321940, President Roosevelt and the Coming of the War outraged a nation, permanently damaging Beard's status as America's most influential historian.Beard's main argument is that both Democratic and Republican leaders, but Roosevelt above all, worked quietly in 1940 and 1941 to insinuate the United States into the Second World War. Basing his work on available congressional records and administrative reports, Beard concludes that FDR's image as a neutral, peace-loving leader was a smokescreen, behind which he planned for war against Germany and Japan even well before the attack on Pearl Harbor.Beard contends that the distinction between aiding allies in Europe like Great Britain and maintaining strict neutrality with respect to nations like Germany and Japan was untenable. Beard does not argue that all nations were alike, or that some did and others did not merit American support, butrather that Roosevelt chose to aid Great Britain secretly and unconstitutionally rather than making the case to the American public. President Roosevelt shifted from a policy of neutrality to one of armed intervention, but he did so without surrendering the appearance, the fiction of neutrality. This core argument makes the work no less explosive in 2003 than it was when first issued in 1948.

Table of Contents

Transaction Introduction
Prefatory Note
Appearances
Moral Commitments for the Conduct of Foreign Affairs in 1941	p. 3
Representations of Lend-Lease Aid to the Allies	p. 13
Patrolling as Appearances	p. 69
The Atlantic Conference - Appearances	p. 118
"In Case of Attack" in the Atlantic	p. 133
No Call for "Any Declaration of War"	p. 156
Appearances of Relations with Japan	p. 176
The Attack - Official Explanation	p. 209
Unveiling Realities
The Beginning of Revelations	p. 233
The Official Thesis Challenged in Congress and the Press	p. 250
Army and Navy Boards Undermine the Official Thesis	p. 298
A Congressional Committee Probes the Records and Reports	p. 326
Realities as Described by the Pearl Harbor Documents
Engineering the Official Thesis of Guilt	p. 377
Secret War Decisions and Plans	p. 407
Actualities of the Atlantic Conference	p. 452
"Complicated Moves" in Relations with Japan	p. 483
Maneuvering the Japanese into Firing the First Shot	p. 517
Epilogue
Interpretations Tested by Consequences	p. 573
Index	p. 599
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