Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Senate, and of the House of Representatives:
Yesterday, December 7th, 1941 — a date which will live in infamy — the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.
The United States was at peace with that nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its government and its emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific.
Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American island of Oahu, the Japanese ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to our Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. And while this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or of armed attack.
7 December 1941. Japan launched a surprise air attack on US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. President Franklin D Roosevelt described it as a “Day of Infamy”. It was also a key turning point in the Second World War, as it brought the USA into the war on the Allied side. pic.twitter.com/XzoRXcT6UA
— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) December 7, 2022