# FDR and EO 9066 **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 21, 2017, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fdr-and-eo-9066/780400 "2017-02-21T18:25:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fdr-and-eo-9066/780400/1 "2017-02-21T18:25:51Z")
Do we know if FDR had any qualms about Executive Order 9066 which interred Americans of Japanese decent during WWII? As a follow up did FDR ever say that he regretted that particular Executive Order? The order was suspended in December 1944, 4 months prior to his death in April, 1945. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fdr-and-eo-9066/780400/2 "2017-02-21T18:35:31Z")
It’s trite to say, but it was an artifact of its times. You have to analyze it in terms of December 1941 - which is not to say excuse or minimize it, only that how people felt even a few years later may not be relevant. It is, of course, the last stage of the great anti-Asian movement that began with the Chinese workers on the transcontinental railroad. Growing up in Sacramento and knowing SF’s history, I’m well aware of just how shitty life as either Chinese or Japanese was from 1880-1950 or so. I knew more than a few camp survivors as well. But… you have to put your head in 1941 to understand what happened, and why, and how FDR and anyone else might have felt about it. (I’ve asked Unca Cece two questions about this time, and neither has ever come to the top. Maybe they’re just too touchy. The first is “Was there any sabotage by Japanese immigrants during WWII?” and the second is “Did any of the ‘ethnic’ military divisions have a notably poor record?”) ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fdr-and-eo-9066/780400/3 "2017-02-21T18:36:54Z")
It’s not a lot to go on but perhaps this will help: > [@](#): > > Roosevelt delegated enforcement of 9066 to the War Department, telling Secretary of War Henry Stimson to be as reasonable as possible in executing the order. Attorney General Francis Biddle recalled Roosevelt’s grim determination to do whatever he thought was necessary to win the war. Biddle observed that Roosevelt was [not] much concerned with the gravity or implications of issuing an order that essentially contradicted the Bill of Rights. In her memoirs, Eleanor Roosevelt recalled being completely floored by her husband’s action. A fierce proponent of civil rights, Eleanor hoped to change Roosevelt’s mind, but when she brought the subject up with him, he interrupted her and told her never to mention it again. > > SOURCE: [FDR orders Japanese Americans into internment camps | February 19, 1942 | HISTORY](http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/fdr-signs-executive-order-9066) ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fdr-and-eo-9066/780400/4 "2017-02-21T18:39:36Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > “Was there any sabotage by Japanese immigrants during WWII?” Ten Americans were convicted of spying for the Japanese. None of them were of Japanese ancestry. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fdr-and-eo-9066/780400/5 "2017-02-21T18:50:32Z")
Folks were frightened when a crashed Japanese pilot was able to get some local people to [help him.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niihau_incidenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niihau_incidenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niihau_incidenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niihau_incidenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niihau_incidenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niihau_incident) ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fdr-and-eo-9066/780400/6 "2017-02-21T19:31:43Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > URL=“[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niihau\_incidenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niihau\_incidenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niihau\_incidenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niihau\_incidenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niihau\_incidenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niihau\_incident](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niihau_incidenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niihau_incidenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niihau_incidenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niihau_incidenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niihau_incidenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niihau_incident)” Didn’t that take place in Rio? ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fdr-and-eo-9066/780400/7 "2017-02-21T19:33:53Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Folks were frightened when a crashed Japanese pilot was able to get some local people to [help him.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niihau_incidenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niihau_incidenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niihau_incidenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niihau_incidenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niihau_incidenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niihau_incident) Your link is oddly repetitive/recursive. Here’s one cycle of it: > **[Niihau incident](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niihau_incident)** > > The Niʻihau incident occurred on December 7–13, 1941, when the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service pilot Shigenori Nishikaichi (西開地 重徳, Nishikaichi Shigenori) crash-landed on the Hawaiian island of Niʻihau after participating in the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Imperial Japanese Navy had designated Niʻihau as an uninhabited island for damaged aircraft to land and await rescue. > Native Hawaiians, unaware of the Pearl Harbor attack, treated Nishikaichi as a guest but took the precaution of removing h... This is in fact the incident that preceded (and was used to help justify) XO 9066. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fdr-and-eo-9066/780400/8 "2017-02-21T19:34:30Z")
You lost me, dude. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fdr-and-eo-9066/780400/9 "2017-02-21T19:44:27Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > This is in fact the incident that preceded (and was used to help justify) XO 9066. Sure, people were frightened. If a single pilot could talk people into helping him, what would they do in the continental USA? Stories about arrows cut into sugar cane fields became believable. Better lock those guys up lest they commit sabotage. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fdr-and-eo-9066/780400/10 "2017-02-21T20:06:08Z")
Maybe it was in Canada, not the USA, but I recall some comments about the Japanese internment that the central government was doing it to shut up the local (State? Province?) government who wanted the order, rather than over any real concerns about fifth columns. Another issue was the risk of mob action against the Japanese immigrant community. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fdr-and-eo-9066/780400/11 "2017-02-21T20:57:05Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > Do we know if FDR had any qualms about Executive Order 9066 which **interred** Americans of Japanese decent during WWII? (emphasis added). You guys **buried** people of Japanese descent?? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fdr-and-eo-9066/780400/12 "2017-02-21T21:00:15Z")
> [@Canadjun](#): > > (emphasis added). You guys **buried** people of Japanese descent?? Hey, we walled Canuks up alive. Sad. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fdr-and-eo-9066/780400/13 "2017-02-21T21:06:00Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Hey, we walled Canuks up alive. Sad. For the love of God, Montresor-san! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fdr-and-eo-9066/780400/14 "2017-02-21T21:06:12Z")
George Takei’s family was interred in Camp Rohwer here in Arkansas, North of Lake Enterprise. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fdr-and-eo-9066/780400/15 "2017-02-21T21:13:28Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > For the love of God, Montresor-san! For the love of God, eh? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fdr-and-eo-9066/780400/16 "2017-02-21T21:14:11Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > George Takei’s family was interred in Camp Rohwer here in Arkansas, North of Lake Enterprise. I lived in a house for about eight years that I later found was smack on where the barracks had been for Assembly Camp Kohler. Most of it’s now under a stretch of I-80, but there’s still a tiny memorial at the back edge of a park, where some of the admin buildings were and the door thresholds remain. I doubt there are many who remember. ETA: [Pretty good link](http://www.militarymuseum.org/CpKohler.html). My house was around the back “intersection of thirds” in the barracks area. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fdr-and-eo-9066/780400/17 "2017-02-21T21:22:32Z")
I’ve not been to Roher, but I understand all that is left is a cemetery. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fdr-and-eo-9066/780400/18 "2017-02-21T22:07:36Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Folks were frightened when a crashed Japanese pilot was able to get some local people to [help him.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niihau_incidenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niihau_incidenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niihau_incidenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niihau_incidenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niihau_incidenthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niihau_incident) And yet, there was no internment in Hawaii. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fdr-and-eo-9066/780400/19 "2017-02-21T22:12:30Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > And yet, there was no internment in Hawaii. Yeah, there was. [Sand Island.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_Island_%28Hawaii%29)