Secretary’s Letters, lot 56 D 459, “S”
No. 563
The Secretary of
State to Robert Schuman1
Dear Mr. Schuman: When we recently spoke in New York2 and joked about our imminent political demise, I hoped for the sake of all of us that yours would still be distant. I now wish to express my deep personal regret at your departure, which I hope is only temporary, from a post which you have filled with such distinguished statesmanship. Notwithstanding the high qualifications of your successor,3 I hope that your influence will continue ever present and strong in the councils of your government and I believe this to be [Page 1290] specially desirable when so much for which we have patiently struggled together seems to be in the balance. Regardless of the comments tinged with pessimism which are all too often heard these days regarding the EDC and your “Grand Design”, I believe that the generous and farsighted policies which in history have been associated with France and which in our time are synonymous with your name will have the last word.
Now that we are both leaving office I cannot help but look back and consider the distance which we have already come in a few short years. Time and time again we have found ourselves intimately associated and supporting each other in the attempt to heal the wounds of the past, to prepare for a brighter and safer future, and I like to believe that the years of our association will eventually be looked upon as having borne rich and lasting fruit.
My purpose however, dear Mr. Schuman, was not to write you about affairs of state, but to be personal, a luxury all too often denied to us in our work. May I merely tell you at this time how much I have personally enjoyed our relationship and how much I have profited from knowing one whom I think of as a great Frenchman, an inspiring European, and a true friend.
Sincerely yours,
- Drafted by Ridgway B. Knight.↩
- Presumably a reference to their meetings in New York during the Seventh Regular Session of the United Nations General Assembly in November 1952; see Document 553.↩
- Georges Bidault.↩