FDR and WWII involvement

American involvement in armed conflict is a messy topic; since the Civil War the nation has a history of being divided about wars. Today, many Americans question our nation's involvement in the Middle East; in the 1960s and 70s, the Vietnam war created a huge schism in the country. What many do not realize, however, is that disputes over American involvement in overseas wars dates back much further than September 11 or even Vietnam. The country did have conflicts about our involvement in World War II, a supposedly halcyon era of national unity and support for overseas intervention.

In fact, the nation was undergoing a significant controversy about entrance into World War II. I will examine Roosevelt's motives for declaring war on Japan as well as the possible motives of Japan in attacking the United States, which was not a declared enemy of Japan at the...
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