Office of the Historian

500.CC/3–1645

Memorandum by the Secretary of State to President Roosevelt

[Washington,] March 16, 1945.

I have had a long talk with Senator Vandenberg as a result of which he has expressed his willingness to go along with us 100% on the world security organization59 if we can work into the document [Page 126] two points which he feels are important. We believe we can do this.

The first point is to work more language into the charter on the subject of justice; the second is to write into the charter a provision empowering the organization to review and possibly make recommendations on past arrangements. This is to meet the point which is of overwhelming importance in his mind that otherwise the new International Organization would in effect freeze the status quo existing at the end of the war which, in his opinion, would have resulted, at least partially, from decisions made because of military expediency without complete regard for justice.

The Senator expressed the opinion that if we could get these two thoughts into the document, in addition to his personally going along, it would remove a considerable part of the opposition on the part of Senator LaFollette, and that there would be only negligible Republican opposition to the charter when it was presented to the Senate.

E. R. Stettinius, Jr.

  1. Senator Vandenberg wrote to President Roosevelt on February 15 (two days after the White House announced the names of persons to be invited to be members of the American delegation to the San Francisco Conference) inquiring as to his freedom of action as a member of the American delegation, and President Roosevelt responded on March 3 as follows:

    “Dear Arthur: Of course, I expect you freely to present your views to your American colleagues in respect to all problems at San Francisco. We shall need such free expression in the delegation, and in America before and after the conference.

    “I am counting indeed on the wisdom I know you can add to our entire effort to secure a program for permanent peace.” (Lot 60–D224)

    For Senator Vandenberg’s letters in this exchange of correspondence, see Arthur H. Vandenberg, Jr. (ed.), The Private Papers of Senator Vandenberg, pp. 149, 153–154.

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