An interesting—though little-publicized—note about FDR and Murrow.
By December 1941, Murrow had returned from Britain, where he had become one of the first broadcast news “stars” for his coverage of the Blitz. Roosevelt invited him to a small dinner at the White House on Sunday evening, December 7th.
When word of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was received on Sunday afternoon, Murrow called the White House to see if the invitation still stood. He was told that the dinner was on, and at the appointed hour, Murrow and his wife Janet walked to the White House. Along with other guests, they were soon told that the President would not be joining them because of the day’s events. Since the White House kitchen staff had Sundays off, Mrs. Roosevelt prepared the meal (sausage and eggs).
As the Murrows and other guests prepared to leave, the CBS correspondent was asked to remain behind. Around midnight, Murrow was ushered into the Oval Study (not the Oval Office) where he had a 25-minute meeting with FDR and Bill Donovan, founder of the OSS. There are no transcripts of the meeting, but whatever was said weighed heavily on Murrow. When he rejoined his wife at their hotel, he spent most of the night pacing the floor and chain-smoking, telling Mrs. Murrow he had been told “the biggest story of my life, but I don’t know if it’s my duty to tell it or forget it.”
The entire episode is expertly recounted in Robert Stinnett’s “Day of Deceit.” Whatever secret Murrow learned that night, he carried it to his grave. Some of Murrow’s biographers have dismissed the content of that meeting, speculating that there was some sort of damage or casualty report. But that information was made public very quickly—and there was no need for Murrow to hide that information for the rest of his life.
A more likely explanation is that Murrow discovered that FDR had some sort of prior knowledge of the attack. Donovan later confided to an associate that FDR claimed to have sent a warning to Pearl Harbor, which is another lie. The only warning sent to General Short and Admiral Kimmel was a vague notice—sent by Western Union telegram.
Even back in 1941, the MSM was covering for the Democratic Party.
Thats an interesting story, but why would FDR tell Murrow that he had prior knowledge of the attack? What would be the point?