123 Dodd, William Edward/16: Telegram

The Acting Secretary of State to the Chargé in Germany (Gordon)

77. Your 110, June 26, 4 p.m. The President is keenly desirous of having the Ambassador enter upon his duties as quickly as possible. Naturally, we would not desire to have the Ambassador placed in the somewhat anomalous position of waiting 2 months in Berlin before presenting his letter of credence.

In the United States in similar circumstances in the past we have avoided the difficulty by one of the following two expedients:

1.
Arranging for a Chief of Mission to present his letter of credence at a place other than Washington;
2.
Recognizing the Chief of Mission as “appointed Ambassador or Minister” and permitting him to transact business with the Government pending the formal presentation of his letter.

In the circumstances and in view of the expressed interest of the German Government that we accredit an Ambassador as soon as possible, we assume that an effort will be made to work out an arrangement along one of the above-mentioned lines. Please telegraph urgently.

Phillips