If there are any veterans or activeduty service men please rise so we can acknowledge your service, thank you. [applause] today is a day that marked the transition of america from an isolationist nation to a global superpower. There are few days like september 7th because of what it meant for the world we live in today. We are fortunate to be able to honor a wonderful program, a new book that has just come out. How many, if you remember, look at that, that is great, thank you, your support makes these programs possible. Because members and trustees like you that we can do these programs. Last year clint lobby was our program manager, we put on 58 programs at the library which is very impressive. [applause] because of your support we can have these programs for free, it is a way to give back to the community because we feel so strongly, fdr loved this area and wanted it used in is a and we are honoring citizen so our speaker today, lew paper, is a journalist, he taught at harvard and was involved in georgetown but he also written a number of very interesting books. He is the author of perfect about the don larson world series, remember that . Perfect pitch world series, he wrote a book called promise and performance about john f. Kennedy and i want to hear about this, he wrote a novel about john f. Kennedy, right . Deadly risk, about his assassination. He wrote both nonfiction and fiction book, i bet they are a good combination. A book called empire and william haley. William haley was the man who built cbs and his rise to power parallels fdrs period of radio into television and probably one of the most fascinating and powerful media moguls in america. Another book on the we brandeis, Supreme Court justice. He has deep grounding in Twentieth CenturyAmerican History which allows him to bring a really fresh perspective to the book he is talking about today which is called in the cauldron terror, tension, and the american ambassadors struggle to avoid pearl harbor. This is a complicated period and a complicated story about how president roosevelt was trying to navigate this transition from america being on a socialist neutral country and wanted to get into this war but didnt want to get into the war with japan, but germany and of course american policy was forcing a decision one way or another. The book is called in the cauldron terror, tension, and the american ambassadors struggle to avoid pearl harbor. There will be a book signing after words, please welcome lew paper. Thank you for coming. When paul said he was going to introducing i had one request, i dont care if it is true or not, just make me look good. I think he did a great job. I want to thank paul and cliff for the invitation to be here. A great honor, very privileged and very flattered to have received the invitation. Being here has a special meaning for me. When i was a little boy my father talked to me all the time about president roosevelt. The reason my father talked to me about president roosevelt was because i had been stricken with polio as a little boy. My father wanted me to know that polio would not prevent me from being a success in life and he had no better example than president roosevelt. I was very fortunate. My polio is not as severe as president roosevelts. Later when i got a little older my father brought me here to the library and the museum. It was a special trip. I was awestruck by the place. I can only say i wish my father could be with me today. I think he would really enjoy it but enough about these personal matters. Pearl harbor. We have all seen that film of president roosevelt standing in the wells of the United States on december 8th, 1941, saying saying that december 7th, 1941, is a date that would live in infamy because of japans surprise attack on the Us Naval Base at pearl harbor. There is no evidence that president roosevelt or his cabinet knew in advance specifically that japan would attack pearl harbor but they should not have been surprised that japan would attack the United States. In november of 1941 only a few weeks before pearl harbor, joseph grew spent two telegrams, secretary of state, warning him that japan was prepared to launch a suicidal war against the United States and that Armed Conflict would come with dangerous and dramatic suddenness. Who was joseph grew and how did he know that . In november of 1941 joseph grew was 61 years old, tall, lean, bushy eyebrows, full mustache, he had been an american diplomat for almost 40 years and he had been americas ambassador to japan can you hear me better now . Okay. I was using the wrong microphone. In any event joseph grew had been an american diplomat for almost 40 years. He had been americas ambassador to japan for almost 10 years. There were four factors that led grew to send those two telegrams to secretary of state cordell hall in november of 1941. The first factor was the japanese economy. The United States had imposed economic sanctions on japan in an effort to curb japans military aggression in china and Southeast Asia. Those economic sanctions had crippled the japanese economy. Rice was being rationed. There was no gasoline for cars. The few cars that traverse tokyo streets had to be fitted with charcoal engines. Imported coffee was also unavailable. It had been replaced by another brew about which the New York Times correspondent said it was better not to ask too many questions. There was a second factor that led grew to send those telegrams to secretary of state cordell hall in november of 1941 and that was the japanese mindset. Grew new the crippled economy would lead to a sense of desperation among the japanese and a sense of desperation would lead to war. It was part of that samurai do or die spirit that still prevailed in japan. Bloom knew that for japanese leaders annihilation through a suicidal war with the United States was better than the humiliation of succumbing to american pressure. There is a story which illustrates that japanese mindset. In the fall of 1941 he received word from the American Embassy in china about a japanese soldier who had been captured by chinese troops in the fighting there. The japanese soldier came from a welltodo family and wanted his family back in japan to know that he was alive and well. Grew past the word on to the japanese government and soon received a reply. The japanese government said that neither it nor this mans family were interested. As far as they were concerned, that japanese soldier was dead because said the government any japanese soldier who had allowed himself to be captured had dishonored his family and dishonored his government. There was a third factor that led grew to send those telegrams to cordell hall in november of 1941. And that concerned the japanese leaders ability to control the japanese population. If i was writing a book about nazi germany, i would not have to tell you about the brutality of the government. Japan was also a very repressive society. Secret police were everywhere, surveillance was pervasive. No dissent was allowed. And indiscreet word uttered to a friend, a neighbor, a Family Member and a person can find themselves arrested, thrown in jail and subjected to horrific torture. Crew understood the upshot of all this. If japanese leaders issued a command to launch a suicidal war against the United States, the japanese people would obey that command and they would fight to the death. There is a fourth factor that led grew to send those telegrams to call in november of 1941 and that revolved around discussions with japanese representatives were having in washington dc, to secretary of state cordell hall about a possible agreement between japan and the United States to resolve the differences between the two countries. Notwithstanding that samurai do or die spirit japanese leaders recognized the risk of war with the United States and so they supported an initiative in the spring of 1941 to hand discussions with hall in washington to see if the two countries could reach an agreement. For his part, secretary of state cordell hall knew there was virtually no chance of japan and the United States reaching an agreement. Hall regarded japan as one of the Worst International desperados in the history of mankind. He subscribe to the view that no promises of the jet as he called them on paper would be worth anything but he could not tell that directly to the japanese representatives who came to washington dc because in the spring of 1941 americas military capabilities were woefully inadequate and so president roosevelt and the military chiefs urged hall to drag those conversations out with the japanese as long as possible to give the United States time to bolster its military capability and to defer or delay any conflict in the pacific for which the United States was not prepared and so that is what hall did. From the spring through the summer into the fall of 1941 he spent untold hours talking with japanese representatives about an agreement he probably knew would never come to fruition. By the fall of 1941 grew reported to hall from tokyo that japanese leaders were very frustrated about the lack of progress in the discussions and that the japanese leaders were beginning to sense that the United States was not really interested in an agreement and the United States was merely playing for time but for japan, time was running out. In the month before pearl harbor grew made many recommendations to president roosevelt and secretary of state cordell hall about things they could do that makes avoid the war that grew sign coming. Very few of grews recommendations were acknowledged, none was accepted. Why . Because back in the United States and especially in Washington People could not believe that japan would directly attack the United States. The United States was so much larger in terms of population and resources, people in washington and elsewhere thought it would be utterly stupid for japan to directly attack the United States. And so grew would later write that american policy in the months before pearl harbor was completely inflexible and that his reporting to the government from tokyo was like throwing pebbles into a lake at night. When pearl harbor occurred, as you might imagine joseph grew was very frustrated and very bitter because he felt the Roosevelt Administration had squandered a chance to possibly avoid war. When pearl harbor did occur grew and other members of the American Embassy in tokyo were immediately arrested and taken as prisoners of war. They were all placed in the American Embassy in tokyo for about 6 months while japan and the United States worked out a Diplomatic Exchange agreement so that american diplomats in japan could return to the United States and japanese diplomats in the United States could return to japan. During the six months he was held as a prisoner of war joseph grew wrote a 60 page report the detailed his criticism of american policy in the month before pearl harbor. Group plans to give that report to president roosevelt and secretary of state cordell hall when he returned to the United States but it never happened. When grew returned to the United States in august of 1942 he showed the report to secretary of state cordell hall. Hall glanced at the report, hall immediately saw that the report criticized decisions which hall had made in the months before pearl harbor. Hall immediately demanded that grew destroy that report. Grew felt he had no choice but to agree to halls demand and so he destroyed that report. I should add there is no evidence that president roosevelt knew about the report or its destruction. For his part, grew never publicly acknowledged the destruction of the report even when he was asked in a postwar congressional hearing whether he had prepared any report to give to hall upon his return to the United States. Thank you for that indulgence. How did i come to write this book . About joseph grew and pearl harbor . About 6 years ago i was going to write a book about america in 1941. It was a pivotal year for the country. Franklin roosevelt had been inaugurated for an unprecedented third term as president. The uaw had signed its first contract with a car manufacturer. The new york yankeess joe dimaggio had a record which still stands and japan attacked pearl harbor. In the course of my research i came across the name of joseph grew, and his effort to orchestrate an agreement between japan and the United States to avoid the war he saw coming. I was intrigued and the more i researched, the more i realized grews story had never been told and so i switched gears to tell that story. Writing this book, i wanted to bring the characters alive for the reader. Take president roosevelt, he is a central figure in this drama. When you see roosevelt standing in the well of the United States house of representatives on december 8th, 1941, saying that december 7th, 1941, was a date that would live in infamy, he looked so strong, he sounds so vibrant and yet as we discussed, here is a man who had been stricken by polio and could not walk. I was thinking about it when i was writing the book. You and i get up in the morning, go to the bathroom, do our business, come back, get dressed, go about our day. Roosevelt could not do all of that without assistance and that assistance was not going to be provided by his wife eleanor, she had her own bedroom down the hall in the white house, more than that, she was almost always traveling. Instead, roosevelt relied on a valet. Roosevelt had two valets during his 12 years in the white house and i thought wouldnt it be great if i could find some commentary from those valets about what roosevelt was like in those private moments with his valet and i was able to find that commentary. I learned that those private moments with his valet roosevelt almost always displayed the sweet, amiable disposition. Roosevelts valet in december of 1941 was arthur prettyman, a big black man who was chief petty officer in the United States navy, was also a very goodlooking guy and although prettyman was married, roosevelt liked to tease prettyman about being a ladies man. And every time roosevelt would tease prettyman about being a ladies man, he would respond, one does not refute the chief executive, mister president. I wanted to provide that same intimacy in talking about joseph grew. To do that i talked to many members of his family. His grandchildren, his cousins, greatgrandchildren, they told me many stories that were very useful. One story stood out because it displayed the diplomatic skills and his stature. It was january of 1949, grew was asked to provide some remarks at the dinner in honor of general George C Marshall who was retiring as secretary of state. General marshall had been chief of the army during world war ii. After the war truman appointed him secretary of state. Now, in january of 1949 general marshall was going to retire to his farm in virginia with his wife. In the audience was general Dwight D Eisenhower and his wife may me. Im sure you all know the general eisenhower is the one who led the allied invasion of normandy. In his Closing Remarks in honor of general marshall grew said all he wanted to do was retire to his farm in virginia with mrs. Eisenhower. As soon as he said that people began to laugh. Grew immediately recognized his mistake and quickly and clearly said, my apologies to the general. At that point general eisenhower blurted out, which general . I did not rely solely on discussions with members of grews family. I also had access to a lot of documents. No documents was more important than grews diary. This guy was incredibly disciplined, through his long diplomatic career, almost every evening during the weekend on weekends he would sit at his desk, his pipe clinched between his teeth, his smith corona typewriter in front of him and he would write out what had happened, what had been said and what he had thought the previous day. I had access to thousands of pages of grews diary. I knew almost everything he did, everything he said everything he thought in those months before pearl harbor. I knew what time he got up in the morning. I knew that his favorite scotch whiskey was Johnny Walker red and i knew too about his very deep feelings for his wife alice. In fact in many respects, this book is a love story. When joseph grew married alice perry in 1904 she was a tall vivacious, beautiful woman with long, dark hair. Alice came from a prominent family in boston but she had little formal education because the family was always traveling but alice was very smart and she had a lot of opinions. Alice wanted to share those opinions with her husband and he was willing to listen. Grew told his daughters that he rarely sent out an Important Message or communication are really did anything of any consequence without consulting alice but alice was a Formidable Force in her own right. That was illustrated by story told by grews private secretary. It concerned a social evening at the American Embassy in tokyo shortly before pearl harbor. The groups invited over for dinner so robert craigy, British Ambassad