4. He Wasn’t in Favor of War Between the US and China
Yamamoto certainly wasn’t making friends when it came to one theory of his. He opposed any war with China from the get-go, a stance that was not well-received by the majority of others in the Japanese government.
And to further complicate things for himself, Yamamoto was open about his distaste for tempting the US into war, knowing that while many officers in the Japanese Imperial Army and Navy welcomed the idea, they couldn’t win a long-term battle against the US in the Pacific.
Shockingly, being promoted to Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet by the Navy Minister in 1939 may have kept him alive. Rumors spread that had Yamamoto not been at sea, surrounded by his loyal officers and men, an attempt at an assassination could have very well spelled out a different fate for him.