Shadow of Pearl Harbor or Obligations

Shadow of Pearl Harbor: Political Controversy over the Surprise Attack, 1941-1946

Author: Martin V Melosi

The Japanese surprise attack on U.S. forces in Hawaii on December 7, 1941, came as a tremendous shock to Americans. Accustomed to success and victory in every aspect of life, they found the Pearl Harbor disaster nearly impossible to understand. Thus, almost immediately the search began for a simple explanation why the United States was unprepared and why it should succumb in battle to a foe long considered inferior.

The Shadow of Pearl Harbor analyzes the resulting controversy, which pitted the Democratic administration against congressional Republicans. In an atmosphere of insecurity and suspicion brought on by the greatest naval defeat ever suffered by the United States, Roosevelt's critics demanded a full public disclosure of information about the causes of the debacle.

Fearing a volatile partisan confrontation that such public disclosure might inspire, the Democratic administration tried to silence its critics by shelving the issue for the duration of the war and by keeping national attention fixed on the war effort. Retreating behind the veil of "national security," the executive branch initiated a cover-up of the Pearl Harbor case, sustained by the conclusions of pro-administration investigations, and made scapegoats of the Hawaiian commanders, Admiral Husband Kimmel and General Walter Short.

Martin V. Melosi has studied in detail each of those investigations and the political infighting between the administration and its opponents. His focus is the extent to which Roosevelt and his high officials succeeded, or failed, to minimize the domestic impact of the Pearl Harbor defeat and keep blame away from themselves.

Table of Contents:

	Preface	ix
	Acknowledgments	xiii
Chapter 1.	Shock Waves in December	3
Chapter 2.	A Policy of Evasion	17
Chapter 3.	Hasty Investigation	31
Chapter 4.	Cover-up!	45
Chapter 5.	New Battle Lines	56
Chapter 6.	A Republican Assault Falls Short	71
Chapter 7.	Threat to the Official Line	89
Chapter 8.	Prying Open Pandora's Box	111
Chapter 9.	Hope and Trepidation	132
Chapter 10.	Conclusion	161
	Bibliography	169
	Index	178

See also: Toxic Consumer or Salud Total En 8 Semanas

Obligations: Essays on Disobedience, War, and Citizenship

Author: Michael Walzer

In this collection of essays, Michael Walzer discusses how obligations are incurred, sustained, and (sometimes) abandoned by citizens of the modern state and members of political parties and movements as they respond to and participate in the most crucial and controversial aspects of citizenship: resistance, dissent, civil disobedience, war, and revolution. Walzer approaches these issues with insight and historical perspective, exhibiting an extraordinary understanding for rebels, radicals, and rational revolutionaries. The reader will not always agree with Walzer but he cannot help being stimulated, excited, challenged, and moved to thoughtful analysis.