In the first twenty years after the World War II any serious discussion of the December 7, 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor brought one question, “Did the American Government have prior knowledge of the Japanese intentions?” Several government commissions haggled over this after the war without providing definitive answers. There was a reluctance to prove that FDR did anything that was not above board. As a student of the history of the era, I have no doubt Roosevelt, Hull, and quite a few others in our government strongly suspected an attack was coming. They had ample indications from the Japanese government that a state of hostilities could begin at any time. Billy Mitchell had predicted fifteen years before that this would be where Japan would strike.

If they thought the attack would come, this raises a very serious question. Did these men lack the will to do act. What we know of the players makes that conclusion ludicrous. Is it more likely that they felt that taking action at that time wouldn’t be prudent? I personally believe they could not bring themselves to act, still hoping against hope up till that fateful day. And only when the attack was history could they begin a war. Like others I’ve asked myself, “What if they’d dispatched the fleet on December 6, 1941 to meet the threat? What if a firm response had been made that day?” Many believe the Japanese thrust would have been blunted. I don’t share that view. On the contrary, I believe that a response from the French when Germany moved into the Rhineland in 1936 it may have caused Hitler’s fall at that time.

In December 1991 my son and I spent about three hours debating the results of such action, this book is the result of that interchange. He believes the move would have been imprudent but he thinks I paint too bleak a picture. I will remind the reader of the battles from Pearl to the Coral Sea. The American Navy never came out of any fight with its proverbial shirt. The Guadalcanal sea battles of late 1942 were mostly disasters. Only the Cactus Air Force on the island prevented total defeat. Unfortunately, it wasn’t just bad luck. We were unprepared for war, from the lowest private in the army to the Commander in Chief. Coral Sea was at best a draw and Midway was a win, not because of our abilities, but because of a series of very lucky breaks.