In describing the initial reactions to the Japanese attack on Pearly Harbor, historian Ian W. Toll observes that both civilians and military personnel were slow to comprehend the events they were witnessing.
In eyewitness accounts of December 7, 1941, this “belated comprehension—that an attack was unfolding—is “repeated again and again.”
FDR’s presidency of nearly eleven years was unprecedented. It straddled two profound crises—the Great Depression and World War II. There was increasing criticism of his big government approach to solving the nation’s problems. The public was weary of rationing and the shortages of a war-time economy.
Of course, this does not include the maiming and loss of life of thousands of U.S. fighting men around the world.
This past September I was jarred by the passing of Gale Eugene Sayers, an NFL football player, who played for the Chicago Bears during my youth. His sparkling, but brief 68-game professional career culminated in his induction into the NFL Hall of Fame—at age 34 the youngest man to be so honored.