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provocative. There must be no action on our part. The President turned to Mr. Hull and said, “We must strain every nerve to satisfy and keep on good relations with this group of Japanese negotiators. Don't let it deteriorate and break up if you can possibly help it. Let as make no move of ill will. Let us do nothing to precipitate a crisis. The hazard is terribly difficult. The Hazard in the Pacific seems to be greater than that in the Atlantic at this moment, but it may pass.”

Someone said hopefully, “Maybe the Japanese fleet is out for maneuvers.”

I remember that Knox laughted with a sort of hollow laugh, that “how ridiculous” sort of a laugh.

At any rate, as we went out of the room I felt, and I suppose everybody else felt the same way, that we had had a dreadful, dreadful session. I remember going back to my office and just sitting down kind of limp, trying to face the music myself, saying, “Is it possible that this country will be involved in a war with Japan in the Pacific?” That had never crossed my mind, I'm free to say. All the discussions, all the things we knew about, were the pressures that came from the European part of the war, the emotional, moral and economic pressures that were developing to make us feel that we ought not to abandon western civilication in Europe, thatthe Americans might have to do something. Nobody knew what or when, or under what circumstances. But I had