Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, 1943, The British Commonwealth, Eastern Europe, the Far East, Volume III

123 Standley, William H./153

The Secretary of State to President Roosevelt

Washington, June 9, 1943.

Dear Mr. President: As suggested by you I am enclosing herewith a draft of a proposed reply to Admiral Standley’s letter to you of May 3.

I have devoted much thought to the problem of a successor to Admiral Standley and have decided to recommend Mr. Averell Harriman⁸ for this position. I feel that with his experience and background and with the contacts which he has both in the Soviet Union and in the United States he would be the logical person for this post. I have no other name to suggest at this time.

Faithfully yours,

Cordell Hull

[Enclosure]

Draft Letter From President Roosevelt to the Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Standley)⁹

Dear Mr. Ambassador: I am always pleased to receive letters from you as it gives me so much comfort to know that the relations of the United States with the Soviet Union are in such capable hands with you in Moscow. It has caused me some disturbance, however, to learn from your letter of May 3 that you feel that you should not spend another winter in the Soviet Union and that you would like to be relieved of your duties there as Ambassador sometime before October 10.

I am well aware of the public spirit which prompted you to accept the post in Moscow and to serve there in spite of the rigorous climate and of the living conditions which must be trying.

Although I regret your decision to retire, I can nevertheless understand it, and I shall begin at once to look for someone with the necessary qualifications to succeed you.

I wish to assure you again of my full confidence in you and to express my appreciation of the able and effective manner in which you are representing the United States in a country the friendship of which is so important to us at the present time.

Very sincerely yours,

8. Representative in London of the Combined Production and Resources Board, lend-lease coordinator, and sometimes a special representative of President Roosevelt.
9. There is no record of the date on which this letter was sent to the Ambassador in the Soviet Union, but he mentioned receipt of it in his telegram No. 1254, September 2, 5 p.m., p. 574.