Meanwhile at the White House
Here is a last update for today. I will try to post again tomorrow.
Geon
Date: November 7, 1944
Place: Washington, D.C. (The White House)
Time: 9:00 a.m.
President Roosevelt’s private meeting with the representative of the National Research Council was over. As the representative left the office the President told his secretary to hold his calls and next appointment for a few minutes. He then lit a cigarette and sat back in his chair to consider what he had been told.
The NRC representative had presented a most disturbing if yet unproven case. The facts were certainly troubling; first, none of the bombs had contained any explosives, in fact the bombs appeared to be nothing more then porcelain containers with wooden fins added. The NRC and the Army were convinced that the bombs were meant to deliver a payload other then explosives. What the NRC thought that payload might be caused the President to feel a chill unrelated to the temperature outside.
Even the Japanese wouldn’t be this crazy would they? Then again, Roosevelt recalled that before December 7th 1941 many military leaders had asserted that the Japanese would have to be crazy to try an attack on Pearl Harbor. The U.S. had underestimated Japan once before, with disastrous consequences. It would be unwise to do so again.
President Roosevelt pushed a button on his intercom and asked his secretary to have Bill Donovan (OSS) come to the White House for a luncheon meeting with him at 1 p.m.