12/6/41 08:45 AM Washington DC

The President sadly shook his head as he looked across his desk, his sad and tired eyes meeting those of his visitor’s. They reflected the same sadness. “I have no doubts left, the United States has less than twenty four hours to prepare to meet this threat. War is inevitable and imminent.”

“I agree, Mr. President,” his visitor replied. “The way I read this they plan to attack us in about twenty one hours, and without any warning. It’s what we feared but hoped would never happen.”

“Where did I go wrong?” the President shook his head. “I pledged to keep the country out of this war, to give us time to rebuild our economy, even now we’re just beginning to see the recovery. Now I have to ask the people to support me in a war we don’t want and aren’t ready to fight. What could we have done differently? How could we have avoided this?”

“There’s a lot of things we could have done but I doubt any of them would’ve changed this. This piece of paper proves they’ve been planning and preparing for war for over five years, even as they publicly talked of peace. The recent meetings asking us to make small concession was only a ploy to either give them more advantage or make them and their attack look righteous when we refused to concede. If we had given in on these demands they’d have asked for more. Actually, I think they’ll attack tomorrow no matter what we do or what concessions we offer. If their fleet is already at sea I don’t think they’ll recall it. I think we should meet them in force, and now. Look how Hitler repaid the British for their concessions at Munich.”

The President looked down at his desk and nodded. He buzzed the secretary at the desk outside, “Get the Secretary of War and Navy here, get Marshall and J. Edgar too. See if they all can make it here at eleven or before. Tell them to come prepared to discuss the readiness of our forces in the Pacific and tell them to not discuss their meeting with anyone except their senior staff. This has to stay under wraps. Tell them to bring along a couple of people they’ll need to make decisions on the subject.” He hung up the phone, his jaw tightened, he had made a decision. “We must make our action a surprise, turn the tables on them so to speak, we must be ready to let force meet force but we can’t allow our forces to shoot first. Cordell, come back just before eleven and bring whatever you need.”

Secretary Hull rose and walked to the door. His efforts to avoid conflict had been in vain. He had worked so hard since spring and for nothing. He walked to an office he used when he waited for the President, he would wait there. The President’s secretary made the calls, then brought a cup of coffee to the visitor, with milk and two spoons of sugar, the way he always drank it. He looked out into the cold Washington air and held the cup as if its warmth would drive away the fear that had begun to tighten in his gut.

Historical note:  The men mentioned here are all historical figures. Cordell Hull was Secretary of State and worked hard to maintain peace with Japan.  James Stimson was the Secretary of War.  General Marshall was the Army Chief of Staff and J. Edgar Hoover was the Director of the FBI.