Last Saturday, we passed the 83rd anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and other military installations in Hawaii. The attack happened early on a Sunday morning, literally at first light. The next day, President Roosevelt addressed Congress in a short speech, and asked both houses to declare a state of war between America and the Empire of Japan. That happened nearly unanimously the same day. But the request was for only a war against Japan. No mention of Germany, an ally of Japan, that had been at war in Europe for more than two years. At this point, as far as our nation was concerned, this was only a war in the Pacific against one enemy.
There was no question that America would declare war against Japan. They had delivered a costly preemptive strike against our military in Hawaii, and America would respond with all its might. Germany was a different matter. Although long-standing-isolationism teetered on the brink, FDR would not declare war on the greater enemy in Europe … not yet. Hitler was about to remove all doubt.