Foreign Relations of the United States, The Conferences at Washington, 1941–1942, and Casablanca, 1943

Hull Papers

Memoranda by Mr. Savage

[Washington,] December 31, 1941.

The final text of the Joint Declaration was sent today to the White House for signature (memorandum attached).¹

There was a conversation in the office of the Secretary about four o’clock this afternoon to consider the question of making public this Joint Declaration. Those present were the Secretary, Mr. Hackworth, and Mr. Savage. During the conversation the Secretary called the President and suggested that since there would not be enough signatures on the document by tomorrow to make desirable its publication then, it would be preferable to wait a few days. It was agreed between the Secretary and the President that the Joint Declaration should be dated January 1 and made public on January 2 or 3.

Carlton Savage

Washington, December 31, 1941.

During a telephone conversation between the Secretary and the President, the President stated, with respect to the memorandum on the creation of a Supreme War Council,² that it seemed desirable to work in a cooperative way on a regional basis for the time, with the possibility that eventually it might be feasible to create an over-all Supreme War Council.³

Mr. Hackworth and Mr. Savage were present in the Secretary’s office during this telephone conversation.

Carlton Savage

1. The memorandum is printed post, p. 376.
2. See ante, p. 132.
3. There was no further consideration of the draft agreement for a multilateral Supreme War Council. The discussions on unity of command by the United States and British Chiefs of Staff eventuated in the establishment, as an alternative, of the Combined Chiefs of Staff; see post, pp. 206, 233.