Quote:
Originally posted by Captain
Well, since PBS had a special on it, it must be true.
Actually, there has been hot debate among historians, and so if it is "common knowledge" I would say the non-specialists know a lot more about it than the specialists.
There was a treatise in the early 80s on FDR and Isolationism by a guy named Cole that argued that the administration was intentionally seeking to shift public opinion away from isolationism so that intervention would be possible. My understanding is that recent scholarship is more of the view that FDR followed rather than led public opinion, and that he remained deeply torn.
While I happen to be of the view that he likely knew war was coming and so was trying to prepare public opinion for it gradually (in other words, that he was intentionally misleading), I won't say that I know this or that it is or should be common knowledge.
Though the PBS special did present it virtually as a fact - are you relying on PBS for your authority here?
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do you have cites for ANY of this?
