FDR was Secretary of the Navy during WW1. During that war, before the US even entered it, a number of bombings and terrorist attacks took place within the US. Most were focused on the USN and were carried out by Germans and German-Americans. The Germans always denied involvement, but it was revealed after the war that the German embassy was responsible for the attacks. Did this influence FDR’s thinking regarding the Japanese and could it also be why he was so willing to use the USN in an undeclared capacity against the Kriegsmarina before Pearl Harbor?
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