No. 926
Editorial Note
On January 13, 1952, the White House announced that President Truman was withdrawing the nomination of General Mark W. Clark as Ambassador to the State of Vatican City in accordance with the General’s request.
There is little published information regarding the withdrawal of Clark’s nomination. Clark alludes to it briefly in his memoirs, From the Danube to the Yalu, page 29. However, in an interview in March 1976, Clark recalled that on the day of the White House announcement concerning the withdrawal of his nomination, he received a telephone call from Drew Pearson, who said he would report on his radio show that evening the substance of the discussion in late October at the White House when Clark had expressed to the President his reluctance to accept the Vatican position. Clark declined Pearson’s request for comment, but he called the President and informed him of the impending broadcast. Shortly thereafter, according to Clark, the White House issued the announcement regarding the withdrawal of his nomination. (Memorandum of a conversation between General Clark and John Bernbaum and Ronald Landa, March 13, 1976, 611.65A/10–2051)
Documentation concerning Clark’s appointment is presented in Foreign Relations, 1951, volume IV, Part 1, pages 1002 ff. Letters regarding the issue of the appointment of an Ambassador to the Vatican which the Department of State received from the public are in file 124.65 A.