Who Was To Blame For Pearl Harbor Essay

On the fateful morning of December 7, 1941, Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor caught the American armed forces by surprise. The next day, Franklin Roosevelt set the public mood by describing the event as “a date which will live in infamy.” The American people demanded answers as to why the Pacific Fleet was so unprepared for the attack. Many were quick to blame a single institution such as the commanders at Pearl Harbor or even the Roosevelt administration; however, placing the blame on just one of these organizations would be inaccurate. The explanation for the inadequate defense of Pearl harbor includes a combination of American organizations, not just one person or organization alone. It begins with the American government, who failed to give the commanders in Pearl Harbor sufficient information of Japan’s motives. Conversely, the Hawaiian commanders did not act accordingly with the information that they had received. The Washington high command also takes part of the blame for the misjudgment of where a Japanese attack would take place. The ineffective defense in the Hawaiian Islands occurred because of

The reason we can not solely blame one of these organizations is because of the confusion and lack of communication between the two. One hour before the attack, the government decoded the Japanese message stating that they would attack Pearl Harbor. There was not a direct line to the base and the message had to be sent by telegram which arrived after the attack.4 This shows that the lack of preparation was mutual since neither the government, nor the commander did not take initiative to enhance the communications in preparation for the attack. With such a serious threat looming, it is careless on both ends to not work together effectively. Proper measures could have been taken if both organizations actively worked