Editorial Note
The list of persons present is taken from the Log, ante, p. 846, except for Mary Churchill, whose presence is noted in an informal [Page 966] memorandum by Harriman, which also contains the following information concerning the discussion at dinner:
“The President came into the room first after some of us already had arrived, saying ‘We are both mad.’ He referred to the Prime Minister’s and his annoyance over the most recent cable from ‘Uncle Jo’.1 His anger took the form of making him gayer than usual both before and after dinner. The ‘PM’, however, arrived with a scowl and never really got out of his ill humor all evening—up to three A.M. when I left.2
“I asked the President if he recalled the sentence in a cable that went to Jo from the ‘PM’ in which he said ‘I am entirely unmoved by your statement.’3 I said the Prime Minister had shown me this cable and asked for comments. My only comment had been asking him whether this sentence was entirely accurate. The President roared with laughter and much to my embarrassment proceeded to tell the story to the ‘PM’ when he came in. Needless to say it not only fell flat but bounced in my direction. With a scowl he said ‘impudence’.” (Harriman Papers)
- Post, p. 1086.↩
- According to the Log, ante, p. 846, Roosevelt and his party had left Quebec for Ottawa at 11 p.m., August 24, 1943 and Churchill had accompanied him to the train.↩
- The reference is to a message from Churchill to Stalin dated June 27, 1943. See Stalin’s Correspondence, vol. i, p. 140.↩