
Pearl Harbor Conspiracy? (FDR, Advance Knowledge, Soviet Spy)
Jimmy Akin's Mysterious World
00:00
Did Roosevelt Just Throw Up His Hands and Let It Happen on Purpose Involvement?
Unintended consequences are a real thing. People in decision making rolls don't always understand how the policies they approve will play out. In this case, roosevelt had people around him who were telling him that this was the best way to secure peace with the japanese. So they thought that we were in an advantageous negotiating position and could make demands like this. And roosevelt listened and happened to believe them. What about let it happen on purpose involvement? Once the negotiations broke down, it would have been obvious that japan was going to strike.
Play episode from 41:33
Transcript

In 1941, the US and Japan engaged in tense negotiations to avoid war, but failed. Jimmy Akin and Dom Bettinelli discuss who was responsible for that failure; whether the failure was intended; and what role Soviet agent Harry Dexter White played in all this.
