Originally Posted by Saccopoo

The guy was a patsy. They all knew of the attack, from the president on down. Lined up all the WWI relics three deep, put the new carriers and battleships out in the middle of the Pacific, and let the bombs and torpedoes fall. Nothing short of such an attack was going to get the American isolationistic mindset to support American participation in the war.

The surge of outrage and patriotism and nationalism allowed Bush, I mean Roosevelt, to do anything he wanted from that point forward.