U.S. Congress An event as large-scale, devastating, and embarrassing as the Pearl Harbor attack naturally raised many questions by American legislators and ordinary citizens alike. How was it possible for such a disaster to take place? And who should be held responsible? From November 15, 1945, to May 31, 1946, Congress held hearings with the official title of the Joint Congressional Committee on the Investigation of the Pearl Harbor Attack. A detailed report was issued afterward. The general conclusion of the majority on the committee, summarized below, was that the attack was entirely unprovoked and that the blame lay solely with the Japanese leadership. Furthermore, the U.S. president and his advisers had done everything they could to avoid war. The committee found that army and navy intelligence had been lax and that the War Department should have kept the Pacific forces on a...