Before the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, tensions had formed between the United States and Japan in the Pacific. The United States had reduced most of its shipments to Japan out of fear of Japanese expansion. The intensifying conflict between Japan and China since 1937 caused the United States to treat Japan with great caution. They were monitoring Japanese Americans in anticipation of a surprise attack. However, the attack on Pearl Harbor further shocked and outraged the American nation and affected the American psyche. After having assured that "a Japanese attack on Hawaii is considered the most improbable thing in the world"(1), the massive and sudden destruction of the American Pacific Fleet and the death of approximately 2,400 American soldiers and civilians at the aftermath of such an attack This attack undoubtedly sowed confusion and racial hatred among many American 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 among both average civilians and high-ranking government officials. This bias 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 Japanese Americans, it authorized the relocation and summary expulsion of "enemy aliens" from their homes to supervised incarceration in designated areas/camps. With just a pen and a piece of paper, FDR suddenly allowed citizens of Japanese ancestry to be... middle of paper... and fundamentally contradict the Bill of Rights. Eleanor Roosevelt, a staunch supporter of civil rights, as noted in her memoirs, recalled being stunned by her husband's decision regarding EO9066. Apparently any attempt Eleanor made to change her husband's mind was rebuffed and she was told not to talk about it again. Throughout the war, two cases came before the United States Supreme Court that challenged the constitutionality of EO9066, upholding it each time. Finally, on February 19, 1976, 34 years after signing EO9066, Gerald Ford signed an order "prohibiting the Executive Branch from restoring the notorious and tragic order of World War II." Following this, in 1988, President Ronald Reagan issued a public apology on behalf of the government and associated associations for the mistreatment of former Japanese internees and their descendants...