London - July 5, 1945. Dear Mr. President: In order that you may understand the Prime Minister's reaction to the number one matter you asked me to discuss with him, I think I should explain in more detail his reactions and the circumstances under which I discussed it with him. Max and I arrived late Wednesday afternoon after two nights on the plane with little sleep to find an invitation to dine with the Prime Minister that evening. Max was tired and would have preferred to go to bed. He was not, therefore, in too good a mood. The dinner, which included Mrs. Churchill and Kathleen, was argumentative and some of the fundamental disagreements between the two men came out. This type of argument with Max always upsets the Prime Minister. Max left at midnight. I stayed to give the Prime Minister alone your several messages. The talk, which started with the proposed meeting, developed into a two hour discussion on every subject - from de Gaulle to China to India to Poland, etc., coming back throughout the talk to Russia and the question of the meeting. |