Editorial Note
No official record of the substance of the conversation has been found. The information set forth above is derived from the Log, ante, p. 529, which adds that the luncheon was concluded ust before 3 p.m. Elliott Roosevelt (pp. 102–103) states that the conversation was concerned with the de Gaulle–Giraud problem and the question of bringing de Gaulle to the Conference.
An entry in Stimson’s diary for February 3, 1943, which records the Secretary’s first meeting with the President following the latter’s return from Casablanca, relates a Presidential anecdote about an exchange with Churchill which probably occurred at this meeting: “He [Roosevelt] told me also how when de Gaulle held back from coming to the conference after two successive invitations by Churchill and Churchill had become proportionately indignant, he Roosevelt asked whether de Gaulle got any salary and who paid him. Churchill replied that he Churchill paid it. Then said the President ‘I should suggest to him that salaries are paid for devoted and obedient service and, if he doesn’t come, his salary would be cut off’. De Gaulle came the next day.” (Stimson Papers)