How a Republican President Saw WWII: Freedom Betrayed by Herbert Hoover

[eyer]

A decent, thought-stimulating blog entry by bionic misquito as it reviews Hoover's offering...

...notice the non-interventionist stance the Republicans once stood:

World War II: The Last Constitutionally Declared War… (Well, not exactly…)

Freedom Betrayed, by Herbert Hoover

It is often cited by defenders of the Constitution that the last properly declared U.S. war was the Second World War. There are a couple of facts that are pretty solid for those who take this viewpoint. On December 8, 1941, President Roosevelt asked Congress for a declaration of war with Japan; on December 11 he asked for a declaration against Germany and Italy. Congress approved these and thus was war declared.

So why question these irrefutable facts? Where is the “not exactly” in these events? I guess it depends on what the definition of “war” is.

Roosevelt took many actions against Germany prior to December 11, 1941. Hoover outlines and documents many of these, even stating that these actions were taken for the purpose of bringing about an attack against the U.S. such that Congressional and popular support would swing toward direct U.S. involvement in the war. Looking backwards from today’s perspective, some of these actions seem trivial when compared to the gross abuses of Presidential power regarding military action. However, in 1941, there were many (including Hoover) who felt the President had gone far beyond his constitutional authority.

With the American people and the Congress greatly opposed to entering the war, our participation appeared unlikely unless some overt act against us was made either by Germany or Japan which would reverse this tide. Certain elements in the Washington Administration seemed to hold this view and undertook measures to bring about such an attack.

Many more words from the actual players here:

http://bionicmosquito.blogspot.com/2012/04/world-war-ii-last-constitutionally.html