EMBASSY OF THE
                                
                    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
 
Air Mail                                     Vichy, November 22, 1941
 
Personal
 
My Dear Mr. President:
 
       With the removal of General Weygand from Africa in obedience to a German "dictat", and
the beginning of a British offensive in Cyrenaica, which two occurrences are presumably closely
related, Thanksgiving Day, 1941, was far from dull in this capital of a captive nation.
 
        Upon hearing that Weygand was to be recalled, at which time we had no information that a
British offensive in Africa was about to commence, I arranged on November 19th for an interview
with the Marshal who saw me alone and discussed with me at length the matter of Weygand's
removal.
 
        I pointed out to him very clearly that the heretofore friendly and sympathetic attitude of the
American Government was based on an assumption that he would not in his relations with the
Axis powers go beyond the requirements of the Armistice Agreement, and that a removal of
General Weygand under German pressure cannot be considered by anybody to be necessitated by
the Armistice Agreement.
 
        I told him that in my opinion such an unnecessary surrender to Axis demands, particularly at
a time when Germany is so thoroughly involved in Russia, would have a definitely adverse effect
on the traditional amity between our two peoples, that it would probably bring about an
immediate suspension of the economic assistance that is being given to the French colonies, and
that it might very possibly cause America to make a complete readjustment of its attitude toward
his Government of France.
 
       I requested that his decision announced to me the' preceding evening be reconsidered in view
of its certainly adverse effect on the future prospects of France and the French overseas Empire.
 
       He replied that since last December Germany has constantly exerted increasing pressure on
him to remove
 
The President
   The White House Washington, D.C.
 
Weygand ...