This is a transcript of a conversation between Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau, Jr., and President Franklin D. Roosevelt on the evening of December 7, 1941, following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
At the time Roosevelt telephoned, Secretary Morgenthau was meeting with U.S. Secret Service Chief Frank Wilson and Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Herbert Gaston about increased security at the White House during wartime. As was typical of Morgenthau’s office practice, the meeting between the three officials was being transcribed at the time Roosevelt telephoned and interrupted the meeting.
Although conversations with Roosevelt usually were not recorded or transcribed, this particular conversation was picked up by the stenographer. The conversation primarily involves a discussion of proposed actions to protect the White House. Roosevelt denies Morgenthau’s request to place soldiers on the White House grounds but agrees to doubling the guard and closing traffic around the White House.
