811.04418/554½

The Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Kennedy) to President Roosevelt 27

Dear Mr. President: I enclose a letter addressed to you by the Prime Minister which was handed to me yesterday.28

Yours sincerely,

Jos. Kennedy
[Enclosure]

The British Prime Minister (Chamberlain) to President Roosevelt

My Dear Mr. Roosevelt: Your letter of the 11th of last month has just reached me and I am very grateful to you for your sympathetic and encouraging words.

[Page 675]

These are indeed difficult days and there are many more before us, but I retain full confidence that we shall come out successfully in the end.

My own belief is that we shall win, not by a complete and spectacular military victory, which is unlikely under modern conditions, but by convincing the Germans that they cannot win. Once they have arrived at that conclusion, I do not believe they can stand our relentless pressure, for they have not started this war with the enthusiasm or the confidence of 1914.

I believe they are already half way to this conviction and I cannot doubt that the attitude of the United States of America, due to your personal efforts, has had a notable influence in this direction. If the embargo is repealed this month, I am convinced that the effect on German morale will be devastating.

I hope so much that one day I may have the great pleasure of meeting you personally and discussing with you the happy results of the actions of our two countries in this testing time for democracy.

With kind regards,

Yours sincerely

Neville Chamberlain
  1. Photostatic copy obtained from the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, N. Y.
  2. Referred by the President to the Secretary of State, October 25, 1939, and returned with the marginal notation: “Interesting—C. H.”