In July 1941, the United States, along with Britain and the Dutch East Indies, had imposed a total embargo on exports to Japan, including critical oil supplies.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt immediately designated Munson as a special representative and gave him the task of gauging the loyalty of Japanese Americans, many of whom lived near military bases and important manufacturing facilities.
[2] Munson toured Hawaii and the Pacific Coast and interviewed Army and Navy intelligence officers, military commanders, city officials, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Munson found that "There is no Japanese problem on the West Coast,"[3] concluding that there was "a remarkable, even extraordinary degree of loyalty among this generally suspect ethnic group.
On February 5, 1942, Stimson sent a copy of the Munson Report to President Roosevelt, along with a memo stating that War Department officials had carefully studied the document.