I was agreeing with you!Fair enough.
Rankin lost her re-election bid in 1942 because she voted against the DoW.
I was agreeing with you!Fair enough.
I was agreeing with you!
Rankin lost her re-election bid in 1942 because she voted against the DoW.
Regardless of whatever the US President at the time may do, it is the US Congress who has the responsibility to declare war per Article One, Section Eight of the Constitution. And based on OTL results, there isn't a chance that the US Congress will not declare war with or without the US President's concurrence. So it would take mind control of the Congress to avoid a US DoW, not the US President.
True, and it’s a certainty that Pearl Harbor leads to a declaration of war by Congress. However, to avert war, it may be possible to avert Pearl Harbor. We know what happened OTL - the US antagonized Japan, and Japan struck back at Pearl Harbor (and other locations.) The US got pissed off and declared war, because of course they did.
However, the President will have a huge hand in what happens before such an attack. And if he tries to prevent an attack by going easy on Japan, he will either be remembered as the guy who kept America out of war or as an appeaser similar to Neville Chamberlain.
Not quite comparable. US of 2001 has much more involvement in Middle East compared to involvement with Japan in 1941, and disparity of forces was also larger in 2001, making decision to go to war easier for the US.