War in the Pacific
With war rampant in Europe, Roosevelt sat at his desk at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and pondered the state of affairs. The US populace had been adamant about staying out of The European War (TEW), as they called it. Roosevelt concurred, European borders should be drawn by European powers, the US had drawn hers, and, as others set limits on where to draw them, so should had she. It was the Monroe Doctrine, it was a good plan and had kept the US out of TEW for four years, and as FDR read the reports before him, everything looked good.
Germany and her allies were at an impasse with the Soviets, and FDR + was sure that they would soon reach another accord. Peace in Europe could not be far off. The problem seemed to be the Japanese. The Nanking Massacre had the American public in a fury once, and they demanded action. FDR had pushed for a received an oil embargo against Japan in 1940, but with little interest in war the American people move on to other topics in the news. The demand for new radios, ringer washers, and Victrolas was high. Automobile sales were up, (any color as long as it was black), and Henry Ford’s 2N Tractor was revolutionizing farming, (a 2 bottom plow, and no mule.)
FDR smiled, he had guided the US out of the Great Depression, kept her out of TEW, and had instilled a new pride in the country. Pressed by a workload no one would want he pushed the pile of reports aside, and wheeled himself to a meeting. As he is about to leave the office, an additional report, somehow falls from the cache…
Agent Albert Simons waited till the President left the Oval office, it was his job to check the room after the President left, and he picked up the report and placed in on the desk in a prominent place. If he had only known that this was the most critical piece of information in the country.
Four hours later Albert clocked out, and went home still wondering what “Torah, Torah, Torah”, meant.
