FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt Respond to Pearl Harbor

Learn how President Franklin D. Roosevelt and First Lade Eleanor Roosevelt responded to the attack on Pearl Harbor. On December 7, 1941, “the day that would live in infamy,” Japanese planes attacked a U.S. naval base called Pearl Harbor in a surprise offensive. That evening, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt addressed the attack on her weekly radio program, reassuring the public and also calling on U.S. citizens to prepare for action. The day after the assault, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan. Days later, Adolph Hitler declared war on the United States.