760F.62/1248: Telegram
The Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Kennedy) to the Secretary of State
1073. Have just returned from the House of Parliament and by now you have the whole speech with the dramatic finish where Mussolini asked Hitler to postpone action and Hitler notified Chamberlain of the meeting tomorrow. Chamberlain of course is leaving [Page 693] either tonight or tomorrow morning. The President can feel that God was on his side and that he was on God’s side.
I was sitting in the gallery with Grandi;94 on the other side of the division rope was the Duke of Kent, then Baldwin,95 and then Halifax. While Chamberlain was making his speech a messenger delivered an envelope to Halifax; he opened it and showed it to Baldwin and immediately got up and went downstairs. Shortly after a messenger brought the papers in to Sir John Simon who was sitting on the front bench and he showed them to Sir Samuel Hoare. They held the papers until Chamberlain had practically finished his speech and then handed them to him. When the Prime Minister read out the replies of Hitler and Mussolini, the cheers in the House from both sides were terrific. Everybody feels tremendously relieved tonight. It may be that England will thank Chamberlain but certainly their second choice will be the President while the rest of the world will have real appreciation of this last hour drive of his. A number of Ambassadors and Ministers spoke to me at the meeting of the President’s wonderful appeal.
The only discordant note was that Masaryk riding back with me from Parliament said “I hope this does not mean they are going to cut us up and sell us out.”
I have just talked with Sir Alexander Cadogan. I told him I never expected to go to a theatre again and be entertained, after having been here when Chamberlain made his first flight to Hitler and now having been present at the finish of this dramatic speech in Parliament. Cadogan told me that unquestionably the President’s appeal had done the trick; that the pressure on Hitler today must have been very great; that to his knowledge it is the first time Hitler has interrupted his time schedule for doing things by 5 minutes and that as this definitely delays his program Cadogan is very hopeful. Cadogan finished by saying that foreign affairs move so quickly now that the old fashioned diplomat feels quite out of place and cannot keep up with things.
Well, as they say on the radio, “signing off” and will try to get 6 hours sleep which I have not had for 7 days.