bubblyrat, the USA high command DID know that a Japanese attack was imminent. They fully expected a wide-ranging Japanese attack to commence at any time after the beginning of Dec '41. They were nervously waiting for it. They had been tracking the Japanese carriers as best they could (by monitoring radio transmissions) and were perturbed by a sustained period of silence in those transmissions for a couple of weeks prior to Dec 7, suggesting strongly that the Japanese were commencing setting up a long range attack and attempting to avoid detection of same through radio silence.

Roosevelt DID want a war with Japan, and he made sure to get one by cutting off their overseas sources of oil and steel earlier in 1941 by a trade embargo. War was inevitable after that, and Roosevelt knew it.

Whether they knew Pearl Harbor would be hit is hard to say. They may have underestimated Japanese capability to launch a serious raid at that distance from their home bases. They certainly expected the Japanese to hit Clark Field (in the Phillipines) and invade the Phillipine Islands. They may or may not have expected them to hit Pearl...by "they", I mean FDR and the top brass.

I'd give it a 50/50 chance that they knew a raid was coming shortly on Pearl...but even if they did, I doubt they had the slightest notion just how effective and deadly the Japanese attack would be. They were accustomed to thinking of the Japanese forces as far inferior to those of the USA or Britain. They were in for a big surprise in that regard. The Japanese were far and away the MOST effective navy and naval air force in the world in 1941. They were superbly trained, experienced from years of fighting in China, and equipped with the finest naval aircraft squadrons in the world.

Roosevelt knew war was coming in late '41. He may have known an attack on Pearl was coming. But he did not know how competitive the Japanese war machine was.

In the end it didn't matter. The USA had the industrial strength to overwhelm both Japan AND Germany in the long run, and Roosevelt knew it. Therefore he arranged to get in the war by provoking Japan with his trade embargo. I'd have to say that it was a smart decision on FDR's part...and a most unfortunate and tragic decision on the part of the Japanese...but it was inevitable, considering their national character. "They preferred to die fighting than live on their knees..." to quote the old phrase.

So, did Roosevelt conspire to get the USA in a war with Japan...and in short order from there, with Germany? You bet he did. ;-) And like I say, probably a smart move on his part. Hitler fell for it like a lead balloon, and conveniently declared war on the USA, saving FDR the trouble of having to convince Congress to declare war on Germany first (which could have taken some time to arrange, given that Germany had not yet attacked the USA).

Roosevelt was clever. Bush's wars, however, I do not call a smart move. I think they rank among the dumbest moves ever.