Are there any oral history, minute-by-minute accounts of the Pearl Harbor attacks as experienced by White House staff similar to the 2016 Politico account of 9/11?

by CptBuck

One of my favorite pieces of journalism in many years is Politico's account of President Bush's experience on 9/11 unfolded as experienced by everyone from senior political staff to the flight crew and secret service to junior pool reporters.

During the interviews, the subjects repeatedly refer to what things must have been like of December 7th, 1941.

Is there anything like this for the attacks on Pearl Harbor?

Link for anyone unfamiliar with the piece: https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/09/were-the-only-plane-in-the-sky-214230

DBHT14

The closest text you may be interested in is the opening chapter of Ian W. Toll's Pacific Crucible which traces the experience of FDR, his inner circle, and DC at-large among-st others.

Re-posting a short answer I wrote months ago that summarized FDR's day.

At about 2pm ET the President was in the Yellow Oval Room on the second floor of the White House with friend and aide Harry Hopkins when Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox called and first told him if the reports from Pearl. He was called again a few minutes later by Admiral Stark the Chief of Naval Operations to confirm and expand the reports. Final confirmation came then when Hawaii Governor John Poindexter was put through to the President and the second wave of the attack descended during the conversation.

FDR used the room as a personal study and private space mostly. He kept naval prints and model ships there along with his stamp collection, but would also work out of it. Earlier in the day he had sent regrets to Mrs Roosevelt that he could not attend a reception downstairs, though he would later try to use the attack as his reason for missing out vs just wanting some free time.

Through the rest of the day he would stay there while his senior military leader's assembled, then in the evening address leader's from Congress, and his full Cabinet. All the while his secretaries had set themselves up in the adjoining rooms with phones and typewriters to deliver copies of the latest news from the Pacific.

It was also here late in the evening that he would draft the speech he would give to Congress and also spoke to Prime Minister Churchill briefly to confirm that both nation's had been attacked by Japan and reaffirm their support for each other.

Elsewhere in DC police had to be dispatched to keep order as a large mob assembled outside the Japanese embassy which was visibly burning sensitive documents.