By Order of the President: FDR and the Internment of Japanese Americans [Hardcover]

Greg Robinson (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0674006399 | ISBN-13: 978-0674006393 | Publication Date: October 29, 2001 | Edition: 1St Edition

On February 19, 1942, following the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor and Japanese Army successes in the Pacific, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed a fateful order. In the name of security, Executive Order 9066 allowed for the summary removal of Japanese aliens and American citizens of Japanese descent from their West Coast homes and their incarceration under guard in camps. Amid the numerous histories and memoirs devoted to this shameful event, FDR's contributions have been seen as negligible. Now, using Roosevelt's own writings, his advisors' letters and diaries, and internal government documents, Greg Robinson reveals the president's central role in making and implementing the internment and examines not only what the president did but why.

Robinson traces FDR's outlook back to his formative years, and to the early twentieth century's racialist view of ethnic Japanese in America as immutably "foreign" and threatening. These prejudicial sentiments, along with his constitutional philosophy and leadership style, contributed to Roosevelt's approval of the unprecedented mistreatment of American citizens. His hands-on participation and interventions were critical in determining the nature, duration, and consequences of the administration's internment policy.

By Order of the President attempts to explain how a great humanitarian leader and his advisors, who were fighting a war to preserve democracy, could have implemented such a profoundly unjust and undemocratic policy toward their own people. It reminds us of the power of a president's beliefs to influence and determine public policy and of the need for citizen vigilance to protect the rights of all against potential abuses. (20010922)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In 1942, FDR authorized the army to evacuate more than 100,000 Japanese-Americans from the Pacific Coast states, stripping them not of their citizenship, which he considered "absolute," but of their civil rights, which he considered "contingent." Robinson, a historian at George Mason University, argues that, because of FDR's deserved reputation as a humanitarian, this action has been treated as an aberration and, therefore, not thoroughly explored. In this lucid, comprehensive and balanced examination, Robinson maintains that Roosevelt's decision was, in fact, "not fundamentally inconsistent with his overall political philosophy and world view." Rather, a deep-seated belief that Japanese-Americans were biologically "incapable of being true Americans" enabled FDR, though he "deplored open prejudice," to be "willingly misled" by bad counsel and misinformation about the perceived Japanese-American threat, despite reliable reports, including one by J. Edgar Hoover, to the contrary. Since boyhood, FDR had admired Japan's naval strength, but following Japan's victory over Russia in 1904-1905 and its invasion of China in the 1930s, Roosevelt saw Japan as a potent economic and political rival. Consequently, after the Pearl Harbor attack incited anti-Japanese hysteria, West Coast politicians and the military pressured FDR to take action at home; the president's racist views, compounded by what Robinson describes as his loose administrative style and lack of moral leadership, contributed to his passive indifference toward the physical and psychological fate of a group of Americans. Robinson's conscientious arguments and meticulous documentation movingly clarify a little-understood failure of American democracy. Agent, Charlotte Sheedy.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Robinson (J.N.G. Finley Fellow in History, George Mason Univ.) focuses on one aspect of Roosevelt's presidency during World War II, the internment of Japanese Americans. Two recent books, Kenneth S. Davis's FDR: The War President, 1940-43 (LJ 10/15/01) and Thomas Fleming's The New Dealers' War: F.D.R. and the War within World War II (LJ 6/1/01) only briefly mention the internment. Using memos, reports, diary entries, letters, and other documents written by FDR and his staff, this book offers the first in-depth look at the role of Roosevelt and his advisers in making the decision to intern. While racist attitudes were widespread and many people influenced the final decision to issue Executive Order 9066, Robinson also cites Roosevelt's long-held belief that the Japanese were innately different and therefore did not deserve citizenship. This refusal to accept them as citizens along with considerable war hysteria allowed him to strip them of their rights for the duration of the war. The book sheds some light on a dark episode in our history. For academic and large public libraries, especially World War II and constitutional history collections. Katharine L. Kan, Allen Cty. P.L., Fort Wayne, IN
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Harvard University Press; 1St Edition edition (October 29, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674006399
• ISBN-13: 978-0674006393
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,098,201 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very interesting concise political history and unique POV, January 15, 2002

By 

Larry Mark "editor of MyJewishBooks.com" (nyc) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: By Order of the President: FDR and the Internment of Japanese Americans (Hardcover)

Few Americans remember that in Winter 1942, weeks after the Japanese attack on the U.S. Navy at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, officers of the U.S. Army rounded up American citizens of Japanese ancestry on the Pacific coast and sent them to internment camps on the orders of President F.D. Roosevelt (Executive Order 9066, 2/19/42). The order never said "Japanese", but it was directed towards the Issei , the first generation resident aliens who mostly arrived before 1907 and were forbidden by law to become citizens; the Nisei, the American born citizens of the second generation; and the Kibei, those Nisei who had been sent back to Japan for school. J. Edgar Hoover (FBI) said it was unnecessary as did Atty General Biddle. But Secretary of War Stimson advocated an "evacuation" and confiscation of Japanese American property. This is a fascinating book by Professor Robinson, which attempts to show that FDR himself took an active part in this order, and had his own anti-Japanese motives, both from his accumulated experience in the Navy, the Rape of Nanking, his sense of Japan as a rival, his family's great affection for China (Grandpa Warren Delano lived in Guanzhou), and his friendships with Captain Nomura, O. Matsukatam, and R. Asano. Whether or not you end up agreeing with the author's thesis, I still recommend this book as an excellent POLITICAL history of the period and the players, including the Federal Reserve (I had never heard of the Alien Land Act of 1913)

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Well-Rounded, Enjoyable Read, March 10, 2003

By 

Edward Stephen Gross (Washington, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: By Order of the President: FDR and the Internment of Japanese Americans (Hardcover)

`By Order of the President' is a book that attempts to show how involved Franklin D. Roosevelt was in the internment of a group of Americans during World War II (more specifically, the Americans whom ancestrally came from Japan). The book starts out by detailing FDR's youth and pre-presidential opinions of the Japanese portion of the American population, as well as his position on the Japanese of Japan's population. It then proceeds to present the events that led to the internment and how the president contributed to the process. After the preliminary details on internment, Robinson goes on to bring forth facts and information in accordance with the continuation and eventual dismemberment of the internment as well as Roosevelt's involvement in the process.

Robinson's work presents many facets of popular and unpopular interpretations of FDR's involvement in the events leading to, and beginning the internment - as well as presenting details as to why each opinion is in existence. His book notably allows the reader to see into the meetings and investigations that went into the original initiation of the internment, as well as the misinterpretations and lies that led to the ongoing existence of internment. Robinson sets out to show the true circumstances and events surrounding the prosecution and incarceration of the so-called Japanese American population as well as the involvement of the president in the matter, who seems to have actually been in support of the internment.

The book presents its literary style in a very attractive manner and will keep the reader involved, despite the fact that the author does seem to use commas a bit excessively. Despite the title of the book, however, the book mostly centers on the positions and deliberations of the president's advisors - something that needs to be presented, but is focused on exceedingly in this case. Nevertheless, the factual evidence about FDR that Robinson does present is compelling and is demonstrative of the true nature of FDR. The facts are largely presented in such a way as not to force an opinion on the reader, but rather to allow the reader to come upon their own conclusions - a writing style that is seemingly growing rarer with every passing year.

Overall, `By Order of the President' is a work that should not go ignored and which presents the opinions of the president on internment, as well as how these opinions led to the internment of Americans under the pretext that they were dangerous due to their ancestry. Robinson presents a pleasing literary style and I personally look forward to any future publications by the author. The book is therefore highly suggested for anyone interested in Franklin D. Roosevelt, civil rights, American history, or the World War II era in general.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Important history lesson, April 6, 2002

By 

Robin Orlowski "political activist" (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: By Order of the President: FDR and the Internment of Japanese Americans (Hardcover)

While United States pop culture has tradditionally portrayed the 40's as a binary of freedom vs. facism, this book exposes the truth that had long been supressed behind ideological walls.

The United States was in fact guilty of it's own internment of an entire group of people based on their involuntary membership in a subordinated group. Although taken to a lesser extent than that of the Nazi's, the actual reality of the country's actions severely clashes with the images of freedom and justice used to marshall support for the war effort.

Paranoia and bias about the potential actions of a few people led to the stereotyping of millions. Their only crime was being of Asian descent in a world where racism and fear was rampant.

The actual event in itself is still shocking, but what is even more shocking was that it happened under one of the great liberals whose presidency had been irevocably cross-referenced with the quest for social justice. FDR had openly built his presidency on advocating for the disavantaged and giving them access to the American dream, something which obviously did not happen here.