Answer: When news of the surprise attack reached President Franklin D. Roosevelt, he was working on his stamp collection in his study while conversing with close aide Harry Hopkins.
FDR didn't get a chance to work on the speech to Congress he'd give the next day until shortly before 5 p.m.
Grace Tully, his secretary, was called into his office.
FDR was remarkable in that he dictated a whole speech.
FDR said, "I'm afraid they'll have to be someday, Harry." "The world is shrinking to the point where even the people of Java are becoming our neighbors."
FDR continued to rework his speech into the morning after dictating it on December 8, 1941, striking out sentences and penciling in inserts. "World history" was replaced with "infamy"; "simultaneously and deliberately attacked" was changed to "suddenly and deliberately attacked"; and he added "without notice" but afterwards crossed it out. "Last night, Japanese soldiers assaulted Hong Kong," he said, updating the speech with the newest information from the Pacific. Japanese forces launched an offensive last night.
