Was the Memo a valid document?
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Claim: The McCollum memo was a real document which was read by President Roosevelt.
Evidence: According to waltercoffey.com, FDR "did implement each of the eight points in some form between October 1940 and December 1941." Also, the same article states that "Regarding point 8, Roosevelt had already imposed embargoes against Japan on oil, gasoline, iron, steel, and other items the Japanese needed to fuel their war machine." Information from the book United States Army in World War 2, China-Burma-India Theater says that after September 1939, European powers that were friendly to China most likely couldn't afford to give arms or technical assistance, so China approached the US. Lastly, there is also the fact that most US citizens didn't want to get into the war and just wanted to stay neutral.
Reasoning: If each of the 8 major suggestions that were made in the memo were implemented in some way throughout the year (after being written), there is a large chance that the memo was read. It's simple to see that just one or two or even three of the actions taken could be coincidental, but the fact is that all 8 suggestions were put into play at one point or another. One couldn't simply come up with 8 points to provoke the Japanese that are the exact same as what another person came up with (at least not easily). Some may say that there is a possibility that he hasn't seen it, due to the fact that there were already embargoes put on Japan before the date of the memo, but just because one was coincidental doesn't mean that the other 7 were. Dealing with China needing aid, the third suggestion was to "Supply Aid To China" (McCollum Memo). Because the ebook states that at that point in time, China did need aid and asked the US, Roosevelt must have seen the memo to confirm whether the idea is good or not. Since most citizens didn't get involved in the war and Roosevelt was getting pressured by Churchill (and it was also the right thing to do), Roosevelt had to find a way to get Americans to change their mind about entering the war. There's no better way to do that than provoke another country, such as Japan, to do something harmful to make Roosevelt seem like the good guy!
Evidence: According to waltercoffey.com, FDR "did implement each of the eight points in some form between October 1940 and December 1941." Also, the same article states that "Regarding point 8, Roosevelt had already imposed embargoes against Japan on oil, gasoline, iron, steel, and other items the Japanese needed to fuel their war machine." Information from the book United States Army in World War 2, China-Burma-India Theater says that after September 1939, European powers that were friendly to China most likely couldn't afford to give arms or technical assistance, so China approached the US. Lastly, there is also the fact that most US citizens didn't want to get into the war and just wanted to stay neutral.
Reasoning: If each of the 8 major suggestions that were made in the memo were implemented in some way throughout the year (after being written), there is a large chance that the memo was read. It's simple to see that just one or two or even three of the actions taken could be coincidental, but the fact is that all 8 suggestions were put into play at one point or another. One couldn't simply come up with 8 points to provoke the Japanese that are the exact same as what another person came up with (at least not easily). Some may say that there is a possibility that he hasn't seen it, due to the fact that there were already embargoes put on Japan before the date of the memo, but just because one was coincidental doesn't mean that the other 7 were. Dealing with China needing aid, the third suggestion was to "Supply Aid To China" (McCollum Memo). Because the ebook states that at that point in time, China did need aid and asked the US, Roosevelt must have seen the memo to confirm whether the idea is good or not. Since most citizens didn't get involved in the war and Roosevelt was getting pressured by Churchill (and it was also the right thing to do), Roosevelt had to find a way to get Americans to change their mind about entering the war. There's no better way to do that than provoke another country, such as Japan, to do something harmful to make Roosevelt seem like the good guy!
Image from: http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/wwii-pac/pearlhbr/pearlhbr.htm