Last night, Chris Matthews reminded Hardball viewers that there “were” “conspiracy theory-types” who believed FDR lied America into WWII. It sounds as if Matthews has only heard about, not actually read, historical accounts which question the high school textbook version of events leading up to America’s entry into WWII.

I quote for him Ronald Radosh from Left and Right: A Journal of Libertarian Thought [1967]:

Of all the secret measures taken by the Roosevelt Administration in 1941, none was more significant than the conferences with the British staff held between January and March. These led to agreement that the US Navy would convoy all transatlantic shipping, a step that violated the Neutrality Act. What made this agreement particularly reprehensible was that if the populace had known, it would undoubtedly have repudiated the President. Rather than announce and publicly state why he felt such acts were necessary, FDR “publicly took the position that he was against convoys because they meant shooting.” [citing TR Fehrenbach] These commitments could only have the final result of leading the United States into war. When Roosevelt ordered naval forces into the declared Nazi war zone beyond Greenland, it was inevitable that a clash would occur.

Sorry to disappoint, Chris. Presidents lying America into war didn’t start with Dubya.