An intelligence classic that almost never was –Roberta Wohlstetter’s Pearl Harbor: Warning and Decision

Abstract

ABSTRACT Roberta Wohlstetter’s Pearl Harbor: Warning and Decision is a classic of intelligence literature that also made a major contribution to American strategic thought during the early Cold War. In 1959, however, the government classified Wohlstetter’s finished manuscript – written under an Air Force contract – just as it was on the verge of publication. Based on multiple archival sources, this article describes how lobbying by Wohlstetter’s employer, the RAND Corporation, and government insiders ultimately led Washington to reverse its decision and authorize the release of Wohlstetter’s work, thus illuminating the changing priorities, tensions and dilemmas inherent in government secrecy.