December 7th, 1941 FDR was astonished to learn that the Japanese fighter planes had dropped bombs on Pearl Harbor. 2,335 military soldiers died but the U.S. aircraft carriers were not all destroyed. Roosevelt on the very next day assembled congress and delivered his Declaration of War speech.
He starts of the address with it's famous line, "Yesterday, December 7, 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." Roosevelt stated that the attack came one hour before the Japanese Ambassador delivered a message that revealed no threat of an attack at all. To Roosevelt it was obvious that this attack was premeditated for many weeks. Ironically, the Japanese government was misleading the United States at this time by making it appear as though they were hoping for a continued peace throughout the Pacific. Japanese forces also attacked other islands like Wake Island, Guam, and the Philippines and Roosevelt said we needed to protect the nation no matter what it takes. War then was declared on December 8, 1941 on Japan and three days later the United States entered war also with Italy and Germany.
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