Olivia Telecky-
On Dec. 7th, 1941, Japanese planes flew over Hawaii, attacking the military base of Pearl Harbor, which belonged to the then-neutral United States. Though America had been supplying the Allies with weapons and had stopped supplying oil to Japan, they had no intentions to join World War Two until this direct attack. Not only did this turn the tide of the war, but it also changed U.S. foreign policy forever. This means that as we remembered the 83rd anniversary of this attack this past Saturday, we also had a chance to look at how it still impacts us today.
Prior to Pearl Harbor, the U.S. had a foreign policy of inaction. In the 19th century, they shifted their concerns domestically to the point that many officials deemed the job of diplomats serving overseas to be nothing more than a tax-paid vacation. In 1859, Representative Benjamin W. Stanton of Ohio said that he knew of “no area of the public service that is more emphatically useless than the diplomatic service—none in the world”. This low priority of international affairs may seem unrecognizable to current American citizens who have grown up in a time when the United States was a major world power, and it shows just how significant this shift has been.
Some may argue that this happened as a result of the First World War; however, after World War One was over, most Americans didn’t want to join another one. In fact, it wasn’t until the minute Pearl Harbor happened that citizens began to believe that America should join World War Two. Before that, public opinion regarded working on domestic issues –such as the economy– to be more important.
The significance of Pearl Harbor came not only from the surprise of the attack but also due to how brutal it was. Many Americans felt that attacking a nation that you never declared war on was a dirty move- somewhat ironic seeing that now the U.S. tends not to declare war when sending troops to support other countries. The surprise of the attack was certainly not the worst element. The true horror came from the brutality of it.
Mass destruction was caused by the targeting of gas tanks. Once the gas tank was hit, the entire ship would be engulfed in flames. Donald Burton Long was a Radiomaster during these attacks, and remembered that he “got burned getting out. I had to swim through gasoline burning on the water. We had three or four planes on the water and I think I’m the only one that made it out alive”. The Japanese also specially designed bombs so large that they would need to be dropped from 10,000 feet in the air. These were so large that they went through all four inches of armor on the US ships, and then detonated on the inside. The ferocity of such attacks led to 1,177 American deaths in only ten minutes.
Overall, 2,390 members of the U.S. military were killed with another 1,179 wounded. 49 civilians lost their lives as well, mostly due to “friendly” fire. A declaration of war was signed just 24 hours later, with President Rosevelt famously saying “December 7th, 1941, a date which will live in infamy”. Interestingly enough, he also stated that “This type of treachery will never again endanger us”. While this didn’t end up being true as the September 11th terrorist attacks would occur 60 years later, it does show the dedication Americans felt to be more involved in foreign relations.
After World War Two, Americans would not favor focusing inward like they did after World War One. Instead, they would support government actions abroad, and take a more direct approach in foreign relations. The Cold War began very popular in America, with the American political left losing numbers as most citizens would agree with the ideals of McCarthyism. Even though by the end of the Korean War most Americans didn’t approve of America’s support in the war, there were still high ratings of approval for America to send troops to Vietnam at the beginning of that war.
Today we still see the effects of this shift, with the War on Terror raging in the Middle East from 2001-2021, and now the US sending weapons and military aid to Gaza. While many Americans don’t agree with the handling of the war in Gaza, with 50% of Democrats and 13% of Republicans saying that they don’t believe the current level of military action is warranted, a majority of Americans still want the U.S. to be involved. Only 19% of adults in the U.S. believe that America should have no role in the war in Gaza, with 37% wanting the U.S. to play a minor role and 24% wanting the U.S. to play a major role. The idea that America should be the arbiter of peace and diplomacy around the world is one that started after they joined World War Two and still remains popular to this day. This date, December 7th, 1941, while 83 years in our past, is still a day that lives in infamy and continues to influence our past and present.