On This Date in 1945 - The Passing of a President...

On April 12 in 1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt passed away in his hideaway in Warm Springs.
I hasten to remind the reader that this recognition of Mr. Roosevelt has nothing to do with my personal view of this or any other politician I may choose as a subject. It is merely a reflection of a man who attained great personal power; additionally, I write of Roosevelt in the same light as I do of Beethoven or Mozart, or any other individual who successfully promulgates the process we call an art form.
Certainly Roosevelt falls into the category of artist by way of his mode of performance as a politician much in the same manner as a Heifetz activated on his violin, or Horowitz would communicate through the piano.
Roosevelt, on the world stage, through a combination of incalculable personal charm and political prowess, became one of the three most powerful men on earth during the Second World War, along with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader and dictator Joseph Stalin.
It is a rather sad reality that Roosevelt died only eighteen days before the suicide of Adolf Hitler and the subsequent surrender of Nazi Germany just a week after. The titanic struggle of free people, represented by the leadership of Roosevelt and Churchill, warding off the frightening specter of Hitlerism, sapped the physical strength of the President, who, after all, never gained full health after his being felled by polio years before.
Were Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Delano Roosevelt America's most powerful presidents?
One might consider the proposition that Events make the Man, not very often the other way around.

April 12 - Two Defining Events in American History...

On this date, in 1945, the sudden death of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt sent shock waves through our country, our Allies, and our enemies.
As I have written before, there was some fear that Roosevelt's passing would have an effect upon our war aims; and, in actuality, there was some degree of panic about whether the fortunes of war would pass to the enemy - of course, by this time, Nazi Germany had been laid waste by our bombing and was within weeks of final defeat by way of the inexorable powers squeezing Germany from both east and west. It should be remembered that Adolf Hitler, after a brief period of euphoria upon hearing of the American President's passing, committed suicide only 18 days thereafter.
It is considered by many that Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt were America's most powerful Chief Executives.
What may also be remembered that the shots fired on a fort in South Carolina called Sumter, on this date in 1861, put into motion the Civil War, which killed somewhere between 618,000 and 700,000 (the exact numbers may never be known) - America's most bloody experience.
And almost at the same time of year; namely, April 9, 1865, the Civil War was ended.
April 12 - a date that should be recalled to memory, it seems...

On This Date...A Day of Remembrance -

The entire world knows, of course, that the forces of the Japanese Empire attacked the American fleet in Pearl Harbor on this date, in 1941.
Over 24oo were killed on that day, and Battleship Row lay in partial ruins.
Some thoughts come to mind about that Day of Infamy:
The lingering Depression, by that time called by the opposition "Roosevelt's Depression," still witnessed many Americans still out of work. In one day, this date in 1941, the Japanese solved this lingering problem by creating a gigantic war industry almost overnight in America, putting countless thousands back to work in a common purpose.
Adolf Hitler was in shock when he heard of the attack, and it required him almost four days before he declared war on America, in accordance with the tenets of the Tripartite Agreement, signed by Hitler, Mussolini and representatives of the Japanese Empire.
Strange; America was the only country in the entire World War that Hitler declared war upon.
Yamamoto, the Commander of the Japanese Combined Fleet, had come to America to study at Harvard years before, and had learned of the American and his ways, through such pursuits as poker, which he loved playing. He once visited Detroit, followed by a trip to the Texas oil fields, and upon returning to Japan, warned the militarists " never to go to war with America."
He also, as a great visionary, some twenty years before Pearl Harbor, stated that the "next naval war will be decided in the air."
How prophetic - when the attack took place at Pearl Harbor, a message was sent to Admiral Yamamoto, informing him that the American aircraft carriers were not present - the Admiral then uttered that prescient statement "what I fear that we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."
I have for years had the gnawing feeling that when Yamamoto uttered those words on Dec. 7, he knew that Japan would lose the war; however, as a "son of the Emperor" he was committed to his nation and culture, and planned the entire Pearl Harbor venture.
Days like this should not be forgotten.
By the way, at this same point in time, the legendary pop musician, Dave Brubek has begun his 91st year - Best Wishes to a true pioneer, one of very few pop artists to study with a great classical composer, Darius Milhaud, one of the eminent Post -Impressionists.