Pretty pretty pictures

 

"This picture will live in infamy"

-Franklin Delano Roosevelt

 



Yes, that quote is fake.  The day lives in infamy, not the picture, at least according to FDR.  However, this picture was so provocative that it led our entire country to enter the Second World War.  The American public had been seeing pictures of destruction in Europe for two years already, but it all seemed far away and of no concern to them.  This up close shot of their American battleships in flames struck close to home and demanded their attention.  After living in peace, the shock of this picture was so great that they could no longer ignore the conflict that was engulfing the rest of the world.  This was a picture that demanded action and soon after, action was taken.