This is commentary from a discussion by historians comparing this year's RNC and the similarities between this election year and previous ones.
I wish they'd gone into more detail, but their comparisons where not limited to FDR, though this does begin to give some insight as to whether or not his opposition was willing to use Pearl Harbor against FDR.
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Another parallel the historians discussed was Franklin Delano Roosevelt's re-election campaign in 1944. Beschloss argued that the parallels were suggestive. Despite tangible successes in the war, Roosevelt was being scrutinized as officials probed the reason the nation had been caught sleeping when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Thomas Dewey in a speech "suggested that Roosevelt was in some way responsible for Pearl Harbor," which Beschloss pointed out put Roosevelt in a "very risky situation."
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Even at that,
Dewey hadn't campaigned as strongly on Pearl Harbor as he had wanted to.
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There are secrets to keep off the campaign trail. Also in 1944, Army Chief-of-Staff George C. Marshall implored Republican presidential nominee Thomas E. Dewey not to make an issue out of Pearl Harbor. Although Dewey believed FDR had compromised the nation's security with respect to the surprise attack, he accepted Marshall's argument that too much talk about the preparedness issue might let the Japanese know that the US. had cracked their diplomatic code. Let us hope that every campaigner will accede to legitimate requests by military personnel, after taking time and thought before deeming them legitimate.
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As the article states, he did the right thing by holding his accusations down in the interests of national security. But it was in the interest of national security and not some sense of reverence for those lost or the sanctity of December 7th.
My guess is that the campaign was suggesting he was a 'Gallent
War Time Leader'. I still haven't found a particular passage about Pearl Harbor, but you have to remember, closing in on election day '44, there had been nearly 3 years of war for the US resulting in tens of thousands of deaths at the hands of the Japanese. Pearl Harbor was horrific, but the magnitude of that attack was replayed many times even if the surprise was not.
[ 09-13-2004, 02:51 PM: Message edited by: Ronn_Bman ]