According to Joseph Persico, author and former chief speech writer for Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, Franklin Delano Roosevelt may have had -- but was unable to act upon -- intelligence of an impending Japanese attack upon America prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor in Dec. 1941.
Before a packed crowd in Filene Auditorium yesterday, Persico spoke on "Roosevelt's Secret War: FDR and World War II Espionage," the subject of his recent book. Persico has written numerous books on espionage.
He said that the Roosevelt era was a golden age for espionage and intrigue on all sides. Roosevelt especially was a man suited to the art of deception.
"He was a master manipulator of people. He would often deceive his own staff. He enjoyed subterfuge simply for the sake of subterfuge," Persico said.
In the summer of 1941, Roosevelt created the Office of Strategic Services. This organization would serve as the primary organ of intelligence operations for the duration of the war.
To lead it, he chose William "Wild Bill" Donovan, a staunch Republican and a tenacious fighter.
Donovan's enthusiasm attracted the brightest young minds into the service and infused it with an atmosphere of unrestrained creativity and ingenuity.
Roosevelt's most important intelligence program of the war, Operation Magic, entailed the breaking of the Japanese military code. As a result, Japan unknowingly served as one of the primary channels of intelligence on Germany throughout the war.
Via Magic, the Allies learned the extent of Hitler's "Atlantic Wall" defenses. They also learned, to their pleasure, that Hitler believed the Allied invasion of France would come at Calais rather than Normandy.
Such invaluable information on Axis military plans ultimately enabled the Allies to win the war. Yet such high stakes espionage ran great risks and often backfired on Roosevelt.
Prior to America's entry into the war, Roosevelt had been developing a secret war "contingency" plan called "Rainbow Five." The Chicago Tribune learned of this plan and reported that Roosevelt was planning to take America into the war against Germany.
When Roosevelt declared war on Japan after Pearl Harbor, Hitler used this article as justification for his declaration of war upon America.
The Magic program would itself would come back to haunt Roosevelt.
Many at the time suspected that Roosevelt had known in advance that the Japanese were planning to attack Pearl Harbor and, yet had taken no action because he wanted America to enter the war.
Today, many historians argue that the existence of Operation Magic proves that Roosevelt did know of the Japanese plans.
Persico disagrees with this theory. He said that intelligence does not come in discrete pieces but in great bundles. It is very difficult to wade through such masses of intelligence.
In addition, once such intelligence is discovered, it has a long path to travel through the government bureaucracy before it reaches the president.
As a result, it is likely that the American government had received some intelligence regarding the attack, but that it got lost amongst the maze of other similar communications.
"One can only conclude, in my judgement, that the attack on Pearl Harbor was not a conspiracy but a catastrophe," Persico said.
One topic which seemed to be on many audience members' minds at the well-attended speech was the extent of Communist infiltration in the American government.
After the speech, one audience member thought Persico had been too kind to Roosevelt.
"It was interesting but superficial. I'm not fan of FDR. I think he was egocentric and ineffective in leading America out of the Depression. He stopped at nothing to get America into the war. In addition, he allowed as many as 400 Soviet spies to infiltrate the American government at that time," he said.
