Box 19

Scope and Contents Comments on exchange of visits between President Roosevelt and President Avila Camacho; obvious to Messersmith that Avila Camacho had great admiration for Roosevelt; on trip to Washington, Messersmith suggested to Roosevelt that it would be good for U.S.-Mexican relations if the two Presidents met; Roosevelt concurred, but as he was much occupied with problems of war he couldn't take time to go all the way to Mexico City; he was scheduled, however, to go to Corpus Christi, Texas shortly and...

Scope and Contents Relates incident of first meeting with President Truman; shortly after President Roosevelt's death, Messersmith went to Washington for operation at Naval Hospital; received telephone call from White House saying President would like to see him before he went to hospital; had never met Truman, but naturally knew of him and his work; was received promptly and cordially, and there was an exchange of pleasantries; Truman said as soon as Messersmith left hospital and was well enough he would like...

Scope and Contents On April 1, 1946, received telephone call from Secretary of State James F. Byrnes saying he and President wanted Messersmith to go to Argentina as Ambassador; had no wish to leave Mexico and had expected Mexican post to be last before retirement; Byrnes insistent and wanted immediate answer as they wished to make announcement that afternoon of the appointment; Messersmith said he would have to talk with Byrnes and President to make sure they were in agreement about policy to be followed in...

Scope and Contents Reports on conversation with [Juan] Perón shortly after arrival in Buenos Aires in May 1946 and before Perón's inauguration as President; discussed what Argentina must do to comply with her commitments under the Acts of Chapultepec in order that she might participate in Rio Conference to implement those acts; Perón agreed that Acts of Chapultepec must be ratified by Argentine Congress and that appropriate action should be taken in matter of enemy property and enemy aliens and assured...

Scope and Contents Discusses efforts to get Acts of Chapultepec ratified by Argentine Congress; most members of Congress favored ratification, but according to Perón, Senator [Diego Luis] Molinari would make difficulties; he was Chairman of Senate Foreign Relations Committee and it was to his committee bill was sent after being introduced; although Molinari professed friendship for U.S., his actions proved otherwise; Perón suggested Messersmith invite Molinari, [Atilia] Bramuglia, the Foreign Minister, and...

Scope and Contents Made trip with wife to Argentina in January 1951; purpose of trip three-fold; badly needed rest which long sea voyage would afford; Cade, the largest electrical company in Argentina, was having financial difficulties; as Cade, along with Mexlight, was subsidiary of Sodec, Messersmith was asked to investigate; Edward Miller, then Assistant Secretary of State for Latin-American Affairs also suggested desirability of Messersmith's going to Argentina to talk with Perón before meeting of American...

Scope and Contents

Went to London in 1948 or 1949 on business for Mexlight; attended dinner given by Philip Swinton, who was on Board of Directors of Sofina, company holding majority of Mexlight shares at the time; several Conservative members of Parliament present at dinner; conversation turned on Conservative leadership; their concern was that it was time for Churchill to retire and they were not sure Anthony Eden could fill his shoes.

Scope and Contents Article by General Carl Spaatz in Feb. 21, 1955 issue of Newsweek in which Stalin is quoted as having said, "Our one big advantage is your fear of starting a war" provokes Messersmith to make comments of his own on the influence of fear in attitude toward war; draws parallel between Nazi regime and Soviet regime; their objectives the same - world domination; if England and France hadn't been afraid to start a war they could have stopped the Nazi threat long before the Nazis were strong...

Scope and Contents Compares Franklin D. Roosevelt with Winston Churchill; has boundless admiration for both; thinks them two of greatest statesmen the world has produced; never met Churchill personally, but has followed closely what he has done, and has read everything he has written; of the two, thinks Roosevelt had greater flexibility of thought, while at the same time adhering to principle; both men had the belief that they could settle things by direct contact with heads of state, and Roosevelt wanted to...

Scope and Contents William Hickey, President of United Corporation, visited Mexico with his family, and with Judge [John J.] Burns and his wife, had lunch with the Messersmiths at Cuernavaca; after lunch Burns asked if Messersmith knew why [Edward R.] Stettinius had been made Secretary of State; Messersmith replied that the appointment of Stettinius had been a surprise to many; Burns then asked if Messersmith knew that he had been considered for the post; Messersmith said he had heard some talk at the time but...

Scope and Contents Recalls conversation with [Engelbert] Dollfuss and the events of his assassination by Nazi agents; Dollfuss was of humble origin and his opportunities for education and foreign travel had been limited, but he had a very perceptive mind and a good grasp of the European situation; he was chief stumbling block to Nazification of Austria, and Nazis were determined to eliminate him; dressed in uniforms of guards they gained entrance to building where Cabinet meeting was being held, killed...

Scope and Contents One afternoon while in Vienna received call from Vincent Sheean saying he was at Legation residence and would like to see Messersmith; on reaching residence found him with Mrs. Messersmith and a beautiful girl, Diana Forbes Robertson; he said he and Miss Forbes Robertson were in trouble; they had been together in Salzburg for some weeks hoping to get married, but were having difficulty getting married in a hurry; they received a message the day before that Diana's father, Sir Johnston Forbes...

Scope and Contents Reports conversations with King Edward [Duke of Windsor] after his abdication; day after abdication Sir Walford Selby called to say Edward arriving in Vienna and would be staying with the Baron and Baronness [Eugene de] Rothschild just outside Vienna; Selby wanted to do everything possible to make Edward's stay in Austria as easy as possible, and called on Messersmith for help; attended Christmas service at English Church and shared the reading of lesson with Edward; following service, was...

Scope and Contents About middle of 1939, while serving as Assistant Secretary of State, was requested by President to coordinate activities of various investigative agencies of the government, such as Military and Naval Intelligence and F.B.I.; these three agencies were often working on the same matter at the same time and duplication not only interfered with best results but was costly; met with heads of various agencies and found some resistance; probably no agencies of government more zealous in protecting...

Scope and Contents Discusses Panay incident and first results of coordination at high levels of foreign policy; after Japanese attack on U.S. gunboat Panay in Yangtze River in [Dec. 1937], Secretary [Cordell] Hull called meeting in his office to determine what action U.S. should take; present were high ranking officials of State Department and Chiefs of staff of Army and Navy; it was not known whether the attack on the Panay was deliberate on instructions from authorities in Tokyo or not, but it seemed clear...

Scope and Contents On suggestion of Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles and Undersecretary of War Louis Johnson so-called "Little Cabinet" was formed in 1937, consisting of Undersecretaries or assistant secretaries from various departments; meetings held weekly and proved very useful in the conduct of departmental business and in coordination of efforts of U.S. government; because of Messersmith's close association with European matters for so long, he was asked to attend meetings along with Sumner...

Scope and Contents

Was offered post in 1939 as representative of United Jewish Agencies in U.S. in matter of refugees; offer was attractive with good salary, but had to turn it down; first consideration was that life was devoted to Foreign Service, and second, in present position, could be of more use in refugee problems; later learned that James [Grover] MacDonald accepted post.