This would be right up his conspiracy theory alley:
I have a copy of a Transfer of Jurisdiction Plat sitting on my desk where the Department of Interior transferred jurisdiction for a portion of the National Mall to the Public Buildings Administration for the purpose of constructing "temporary buildings for use during the Present National Emergency". It was recorded January 22 1942, but it was signed by the Secretary of the Interior at the end of November: eight days before Pearl Harbor. 😮
I think that the Roosevelt administration probably knew that our involvement in the war was inevitable at that point. What they didn't know was how or when we'd be brought in to it. People still had vivid memories of WWI and most Americans were strongly opposed to getting involved in another world war. Pearl Harbor obviously changed everything.
If our involvement truly was inevitable, then I suppose you could say that Japan did us a favor; with one stroke they galvanized the American public in a way that would not otherwise have been possible. I don't remember which Japanese military leader famously said "I fear we have awakened a sleeping tiger" (paraphrasing), but he was correct.
I thought it was common knowledge, that the attack on Pearl Harbor was known and planned, by both sides to get US into WW2?
I had a long talk with a Jewish guy, who said "It was necessary to get the USA into WW2, and there were too many Nazi Sympathizers to get them in, so the Pearl Harbor attack was designed to get USA into it. You'd have done the same thing, if your family was going to be wiped out".
It was pressure, to overcome the Nazi Sympathizers, he said.
N
A friend of mine father was a master brick mason who grew up in the area of MD that you live now. In the late 30s & early 40s, he worked on civil projects at the WH. A lot of subterranean rooms and tunnels that were heavily reinforced thick brick walls.
He was in WW2 and was captured in Burma, escaped and hiked his way out somehow. After the war,he married a Louisiana gal and settled down. He was self-employed building custom fireplaces. Never advertised. Word of mouth. Always was booked months ahead for work until he decided to retire.
