December 1941 (66 page)

The
Saturday Evening Post
ran a long story which detailed that the Third Reich was planning for a five-year war against the Allied Powers. Like the citizens of England, Japan, and America, their government was not only asking for sacrifices from the citizenry, they were demanding it. Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels went on state radio to call on the German people to donate blankets to their soldiers on the Russian front.
¹⁷
The Germans meanwhile were embarking on a massive shipbuilding program. Their shipyards were operating twenty-four hours a day.

War was not only all hell, it was also vile. As the German troops fell back from their thrusts into Russia, they desperately needed transportation of any kind. As a rouse, they announced in Russian towns that free salt was available. Peasants came from everywhere via horse and sleigh when the word spread of the free salt. Except there was no free salt. The Germans took the horses, the sleighs, and shot any Russians who protested the theft.

For Hitler and Nazi Germany, there were no longer civilians, women or children. Any human being, in any circumstance, was fair game. The German people themselves would eventually learn the terrible consequences of total war on their own soil, but that would come later, when the tables had turned against them. In 1941, at the apex of their power, the German conquerors cut a murderous swath through every invaded country, with no compunction and with complete impunity. They were particularly savage toward the Russians, whom they considered
untermenschen
, subhuman.
¹⁸

The War Department, concerned about the nation's morale, began churning out stories of heroes and of American successes. The tale of Captain Colin P. Kelly, Jr. who had sacrificed his life to sink a Japanese war ship had been in the paper for days. It was later learned Captain Kelly had ordered six of the crew in his plane to parachute to safety, leaving him and two others to finish the mission in their shot up and battered plane. After his demise, he was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by Douglas MacArthur.
¹⁹

Yet another daring pilot was thrilling Americans with his exploits, Colonel Claire Chennault, of the now-famous “Flying Tigers.” Chennault had volunteered to fight with the Chinese against the Japanese like so many other young American adventurers, however, to do so, he had to “resign” from the Army Air Corps. That was before December 7 changed everything. Chennault was a ruggedly handsome Texan and natural leader who shot down numerous Japanese planes, flew the “Hump” over Burma, was a virulent anti-communist and graced the covers of
Look
and
Time
magazine.
²⁰

Roosevelt was pushing hard to organize a Supreme War Council and the name of Wendell Willkie was floated to either chair or at least serve on the committee. “The Council members would be given broad policy-making powers and authority over all segments of the Nation's wartime life—from civilian activities to actual naval and military operations. They would be responsible only to Mr. Roosevelt.” The council was described by one White House insider as “embryonic.” On the surface, the White House seemed in command and organized but if the surface was scratched, human beings would be found who were just as disorganized and panicky as anyone else in the country. He was also still trying to get a planning operation going that would involve the British, American, Russian, Chinese, Dutch, “and other governments allied in the world-wide war against the Axis.”
²¹

Joe Stalin was being a pain in the ass, as per usual. The British Foreign Minister, Anthony Eden, had been in Moscow for days, holding the Soviet Dictator's hand, trying to get him to play nice with everybody else. In a confidential telegram to Secretary of State Cordell Hull, a British official wrote it became “apparent at the most recent meetings between Eden and Stalin that it would be impossible to reconcile the British and Soviet drafts of the proposed pacts on the joint war effort and European post-war problems, in view of the Soviet attitude with respect to the recognition of the 1941 frontiers.” Stalin was also delusional as he told Eden “he had expressed the belief that Germany will be defeated within one year and Japan possibly within six months.”
²²

All told, FDR had five big items on his “to do” list including “reorganization of the machinery of the United States and British governments to integrate and expedite the war tasks of the two nations.”
²³
He met that Sunday with the British Ambassador, Lord Halifax, to begin the work on an agenda for a planned meeting that week of the Allies. Though the Russians still hadn't declared war on Japan, they wanted in on the talks.
²⁴

Curiously, even as of two weeks after the beginning of the war, it was still not commonly being referred to as “World War II” or the “Second World War.” Nor was the “Great War” being commonly referred to as “World War I.” These appellations appeared here and there in one form or another but would take time to take root in the common lexicon.

Willkie had been on the radio just the evening before, giving the American people what for, telling them they were not sacrificing enough and that they had to get used to a future of “Spartan simplicity and hard work.”
²⁵
If his 1940 GOP presidential opponent was willing to play bad cop, FDR was more than happy to play good cop.

In his 1940 effort, hundreds of “Associated Willkie Clubs of America” had sprung up. By 1941, they had become the “Independent Clubs of America.” By December 1941, they had become nothing, disbanding to concentrate on the war effort.
²⁶
The Chairman of the Republican National Committee, Joe Martin, sent a letter to all GOP state chairmen informing them of his decision to cancel the party's annual meeting in Washington in January. However, Martin did suggest that countrywide “Lincoln Day dinners” be held on the anniversary of the sixteenth president's birthday as “patriotic demonstrations.” He continued, “Let us publicly proclaim our support of the Administration in an irresistible effort to win the war.”
²⁷

FDR already had a “War Cabinet” working on solving the problems facing the American military and he'd met with them on Saturday, in the Cabinet Room of the White House. It was an amalgamation of White House staff like Harry Hopkins and Cabinet officials like Attorney General Francis Biddle and Labor Secretary Francis Perkins.
²⁸
A bit of good news greeted the War Cabinet in Washington and Winston Churchill's war planners in London, when the British army scored another breakthrough in Libya against the German tank corps. As the Brits rolled into Derna, Libya, they were greeted by “cheering and smiling Arab tribesmen.”
²⁹

Just days before, the government was assuring the American people that food was plentiful and would be so for the foreseeable future, and nothing like the last war. Then Paul McNutt, Federal Security Administrator, told the National Defense Gardening Conference that Americans needed to conserve food and that the “meatless Mondays” of the last war were not inconceivable.
³⁰
Fearing a run on sugar would drive up prices, the government stepped in and froze the cost.
³¹

Whereas several days earlier American flags sales were only up modestly, near the end of the month, they had increased sharply—at least for the thirty flag manufacturers in the greater Chicago area. “Orders by the thousands are pouring into the some 30 companies which manufacturer the ‘Star-Spangled Banner' and other patriotic insignia. It's the war, of course.”
³²
Washington was encouraging all Americans to display the stars and bars.

The American Institute of Public Opinion, headed by the up and coming pollster, George Gallup, took a survey of the American people and asked if they would be willing to work an extra eight hours a week in order to help the war effort. An astonishing 88 percent said yes and only 12 percent said no. “Despite long working hours in many war plants, the overwhelming majority of defense workers interviewed indicated their willingness to work an extra eight hours a week in order to speed production.”
³³

Washington was moving ahead with what it hoped would be a streamlining of labor, bringing the state and local governments effectively under the control of the national government. The plan was to have a workforce that responded “rapidly” to the needs of the war effort. “President Roosevelt, acting to utilize the man power and woman power of the country for armament production to the fullest extent, ordered creation of a national industrial recruiting agency, which would merge the State and territorial affiliates of the United Sates Employment Services.” The plan included “more effective use of those already employed through transfer of needed workers from less essential jobs to war production.”
³⁴

Private property was being confiscated left and right, especially in Washington. One example was a picture-frame shop across from the White House. It had been there for years, filling the orders of presidents as far back as Teddy Roosevelt. It was taken for the war effort and the old building raised. “The land, it seems, is needed for construction of a Government building. Spared were the historic Decatur and Blair houses.”
³⁵

While the government was seizing private property for the war effort, it was also taking control of some twenty foreign-owned plants in the Philadelphia area. The Axis-owned factories were taken over by Treasury officials, after the FBI identified their ownership. “Treasury agents, following a pre-arranged plan, moved in quietly to prevent sabotage and insure maximum production of defense products.”
³⁶

Like their German counterparts, American shipbuilders were also working overtime and ten navy ships slid into the water in one day. “Destroyers, submarine chasers, cargo ships and tankers were represented in the launchings, many of them going into the water far ahead of schedule.” Ships were launched in Charleston, South Carolina, New York, and Chester, Pennsylvania.
³⁷
In Charleston, two ships “splashed” within ten minutes of each other. Of course, it had already been determined that these shipyards would be fully operational on Christmas Day.
³⁸

Three Republican senators came forward to say they would not be “gagged” by the war, despite FDR's power and popularity. This ran contrary to a proclamation the Republican National Committee had issued some days earlier. The chairman of the RNC and the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, issued a joint communiqué and sent a telegram to FDR pledging to set aside partisanship for the duration of the emergency. The pledge lasted nearly two weeks—pretty impressive, considering politicians made the promise.

The three who decided to battle the headwinds of near-unconditional national support for Roosevelt were Wayland “Curly” Brooks of Illinois, Styles Bridges of New Hampshire, and “Mr. Republican” himself, the redoubtable Robert Taft of Ohio and the leader of conservatives in America, such as they were in 1941.

The three represented three differing viewpoints of the GOP which may have explained their apparent permanent minority status since 1932. Brooks was an out-and-out isolationist, bitterly opposing FDR, Bridges was an out-and-out internationalist, supporting FDR, and Taft was somewhere in the middle. He told the Associated Press that he did not believe that all of FDR's “recommendations . . . must be accepted blindly.” Elaborating, he said “Certainly in all fiscal matters we must exercise our own judgment.” The three said they planned on critiquing civilian decisions but not those by the military, and they promised not to try to “run the war in Congress.”
³⁹

Others joined the flow with enthusiasm. The publisher of the
Chicago Tribune
, Colonel Robert R. McCormick, a fierce opponent of Roosevelt's for years, and a champion of the America First movement, significantly announced from his own radio station, WGN, that America would someday rule the waves and that America would someday have “command of the sea” and “command of the air.”
⁴⁰
Heads must have shaken in the White House when they heard of the internationalist address by McCormick.

McCormick wasn't anything if he wasn't a patriot, though. Two weeks after the attack, American newspapers were still filled with angry editorials and tough cartoons attacking the Germans, the Italians, but most especially, the Japanese. McCormick's
Tribune
was no exception. One of his reporters had an unusually salient point. At the 1932 Olympics, the Japanese swimmers had done surprisingly well, especially in the shorter competition. It was later learned that the swimmers had been pumped full of fresh oxygen. The
Tribune's
point was that if the Japanese cheated then, and had cheated two weeks earlier at Pearl, they could be counted on to continue cheating.
⁴¹

As it was the weekend before Christmas, Americans were engaged in last-minute shopping. There were only three shopping days left. For women, jewelry, slippers, quilted robes, lounge pajamas, house coats and gowns were suggested, while smoking jackets, pajamas, White Owl cigars, a Palmolive Shaving Kit and shirts were offered for men. Portable radios were also suggested by retailers as good gifts—for war news of course—as were albums of Nelson Eddy and Rise Stevens, Kate Smith, and the “Dorsey Brothers Favorites.”
⁴²

For girls, baby buggies, rag dolls and tricycles were dancing in their heads, while for boys, BB guns and bicycles were what kept them mostly nice and not naughty.