Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt passed an executive order that put more than 110,000 people of Japanese descent into internment camps. Of those 110,000, about sixty-two percent were American citizens. Looking back on the events that transpired after Pearl Harbor, it is hard to believe that we, as a country, were capable of the malicious treatment of people just based on their ethnic background. However, we have started to see the same events take place, this time with the Muslims in our country. Similar things that allowed FDR to authorize the incarceration of thousands of Americans are happening today, but this time, hopefully, we will be aware and protest it more than the country did back in 1942. Donald Trump won …show more content…
When there is a crisis on American soil, there tends to be a “rally effect” that occurs where citizens of the country rally around the symbol and representation of America at that time—our president. He is the one person that is supposed to represent us all, and we feel a sense of patriotism and a need to support our country in the face of a common enemy. The effect is even stronger when we are attacked by a foreign enemy or have an international threat, such as when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, or 9/11. Bush’s approval rating in 2001 skyrocketed after the terrorist attacks, especially when he was shown on TV helping civilians and thanking public service men for doing their job. This made the American people feel warmly towards him, no matter what party they were, because at that moment the whole country had a shared enemy, which happens very rarely. For a moment, Americans saw a foreign enemy as a larger threat than the other side of the party, and in their minds, they needed to join together to present a united front. The rally effect allowed FDR a huge amount of power and support from the public to intern Japanese people. To put up a strong, united front, people blindly support the president in these