Pearl Harbor: The Seeds and Fruits of Infamy - Ludwig von Mises ...

19.
The Administration
Initiates an Investigation
Roberts Commission Appointed
On December 16 the president named a fi ve-man board, with
Supreme Court Justice Owen J. Roberts as chairman, to
investigate the attack. In addition to Roberts, it included
two retired Navy offi cers, one retired and one active Army offi -
cer. 1 According to Admiral William H. Standley, former chief of
naval operations and a member of the Commission, FDR “handpicked”
the other four members in consultation with Stimson,
Marshall, and possibly Knox, so that a majority could be trusted
to conclude “that Short and Kimmel were primarily responsible
for the Pearl Harbor disaster.” 2
Th e Commission’s assignment was to decide “whether any
derelictions of duty or errors of judgment on the part of United
States Army or Navy personnel contributed to such successes as
were achieved by the enemy.” If any such derelictions or errors
1 Th e New York Times, December 17, 1941, p. 9.
2 William H. Standley, Admiral (USN, Ret.) June 1, 1962, interview by Harry
Elmer Barnes, p. 7; notes in author’s possession.
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