acked Pearl Harbor, Navy Secretary Knox was certain that the message was wrong. It had to be the Philippines. When assured that the information was correct, he phoned the president. The call was taken by Roosevelt’s trusted friend and advisor, Harry L. Hopkins, who reacted by saying that the information had to be a mistake.” (Gailey 98-99) Everyone was in denial; no one wanted to believe that Pearl Harbor had been attack. They thought they knew every move Japan was making. The attack proved them wrong. Upon receiving news that Pearl Harbor had been attacked “the President immediately called Gov. Joseph B. Poindexter in Honolulu. While Roosevelt was on the phone, Hawaii was struck by the second wave of Japanese planes.” (Gailey 99) The United States government could not understand why Pearl Harbor was not on the alert list. Japan had planned the attack perfectly, they had the United States believing that the attack was going to be on Philippines and then they shocked the country when they began bombing Pearl Harbor.“The Army in Hawaii had fought the Navy for years for primary responsibility for the defense of the islands, and had prevailed. In Oahu, Short was well aware of that, but neither Marshall nor anyone else in Washington knew that Short’s only concern for Sunday morning was a golf date with Kimmel.” (Weintraub 212) “Kimmel was appointed by President Roosevelt in relief of Admiral Richardson as Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet. Kimmel saw to it that his command was prepared for warfare, should war come, by ensuring that the ships were battle ready and the men were well trained and in a high state of readiness. Due to the success of the Japanese surprise attack, however, Kimmel received much of the blame for the naval forces’ poor response. At his headquarters during the raid, he was standing by a window when a spent bullet smashed through the glass and hit him...
