Roosevelt Papers

President Roosevelt to the Chinese Minister of Finance (Kung)

My Dear Dr. Kung. It was good of you to think of me and I am delighted to have that delicious Chinese tea1 —especially because I am more and more substituting tea for coffee.

Our visit here in Cairo with the Generalissimo and Madame Chiang has been not only very delightful but it has been a true success. It is the beginning of many such conferences, I hope. They have spoken to me in regard to the inflation problem and when they get back to Chungking they will speak with you in regard to a suggestion which I have made.2 I have not, of course, had a chance to talk with the Secretary of the Treasury3 about it but I will do so just as soon as I get home.

I do hope that I shall have the pleasure of seeing you one of these days very soon. My warm regards, Sincerely yours,

F[ranklin] D R[oosevelt]

The Honorable Dr. H. H. Kung,
The Executive Yuan,
Chungking, China

  1. On Madame Chiang’s return from the United States to China earlier in the year, Roosevelt had sent with her a letter (not printed herein) and a box of cigars for Kung. Kung replied to Roosevelt in a letter (not printed herein) of November 17, 1943, which was forwarded from Washington to Cairo. A gift of tea accompanied this letter.
  2. Regarding the suggestion referred to here, see post, p. 804, and The Stilwell Papers, pp. 251–252.
  3. Henry Morgenthau, Jr.