Prior to the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, tensions had been building between the United States and Japan in the Pacific. The United States had cut off most supplies to Japan out of fear of Japanese expansion. The conflict that had intensified between Japan and China since 1937 had led the United States to treat Japan with great caution. They were monitoring the Japanese Americans in anticipation of a surprise attack. Yet the attack on Pearl Harbor still shocked and outraged the American nation and affected the American psyche. After being assured that "a Japanese attack on Hawaii is considered the most unlikely thing in the world"(1), the sudden mass destruction of the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet and the deaths of approximately 2,400 American soldiers and civilians in following such an attack The attack undoubtedly brought confusion and racial hatred among many US citizens. The War Department's assumption that the Japanese Navy was incapable of launching a full-scale assault on the main U.S. Navy base in the Pacific was more than inaccurate. As a result, the American naval base was unprepared and was quickly destroyed. A hidden bias would soon become evident in both average civilians and higher-level government officials. This prejudice against Japan contributed to the formation of Executive Order 9066, signed by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) on February 19, 1942. Once Executive Order 9066 was signed, without any evidence that sabotage or espionage had been committed by the Japanese Americans, permitted the summary relocation and removal of “enemy aliens” from their homes for incarceration under surveillance in designated areas/camps. With just a pen and a piece of paper, FDR suddenly made it possible for citizens of Japanese descent to be… middle of paper… essentially contradicting the Bill of Rights. Eleanor Roosevelt, a strong civil rights advocate, as noted in her memoirs, recalled being stunned by her husband's decision regarding EO9066. Allegedly, Eleanor's every attempt to change her husband's mind was rebuffed and she was told not to mention him again. During the war, two cases were presented to the United States Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of EO9066, upholding it both times. Finally, on February 19, 1976, 34 years after signing EO9066, Gerald Ford signed an order “prohibiting the executive branch from reinstating the infamous and tragic World War II order.” Subsequently, in 1988, President Ronald Reagan issued a public apology on behalf of the government and related groups for the mistreatment of former Japanese internees and their descendants.