Foreign Relations of the United States, Conference at Quebec, 1944

Roosevelt Papers

The Presidents Log

September 9, 1944, 10:10 p.m. to September 21, 1944, 8 a.m.

Foreword

The Quebec Conference in September 1944 marked the eleventh wartime meeting of President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill. They first met at Argentia, Newfoundland, in August 1941,¹ when they proclaimed to the world in the Atlantic Charter² the war aims in which their democracies believed. The second meeting was in Washington two weeks after Pearl Harbor³ when the fortunes of the United States were at low ebb as she prepared for war in the midst of war. At that time the President and the Prime Minister made the most crucial decision of the war—to throw the main bulk of our force against Germany first and to defeat Japan later. The third meeting in June 1942⁴ marked the Allied low point of the war. The Prime Minister’s mood was as grim as the President’s had been in December and the fall of Tobruk on 21 June cast a pall over the conference which was seeking the means to open a second front in Europe. The fourth conference at Casablanca in January 1943,⁵ held in territory seized by American troops barely two months before and with a battle raging 750 miles away, symbolized in dramatic fashion the beginning of a great Allied offensive which by the year’s end knocked Italy out and entrenched our armies firmly on the continent of Europe.

Bolder and greater attacks on the Axis citadel were planned at later conferences in Washington and in Quebec.⁶ Meetings at Cairo and Teheran in November and December 1943⁷ brought China and Russia into close military alliance with Great Britain and the United States for the first time and gave to President Roosevelt and the Prime Minister the opportunity to talk with Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and Marshal Stalin and to synchronize Anglo-American drives with those of our other allies.

As the plans of Cairo and Teheran were ripening and as great forces were massing for the final assault on Germany in the spring of 1944, Mr. Churchill proposed another conference. He suggested an Easter meeting in Bermuda⁸ but the President did not believe a meeting was essential at that time.⁹ Soon thereafter the Prime Minister pressed for a meeting in England just after “D-Day”. The President could not accept.¹⁰ In July Mr. Churchill begged for an early meeting either in Bermuda or in Scotland. The President liked the idea of Scotland and he cabled Marshal Stalin inviting him to an August conference in Scotland similar to the one at Teheran but unfortunately Stalin replied that military duties would prevent his attendance.¹¹ The President’s Pacific inspection trip and the Prime Minister’s visit to Italy in August both delayed the meeting and it was not until late August that a September date was chosen¹² and Quebec was agreed upon as the meeting place.

From 18 August, when the President told his press conference that he expected to see the Prime Minister soon, the press speculated on a place and time for the conference. Although one “usually reliable” source on 23 August expected the President to view an Allied military parade in Paris, most correspondents were more cautious in their predictions and by the first of September they had agreed that the meeting would take place in Canada. Speculation then turned to the agenda; correspondents wrote that control of Germany and defeat of Japan—obvious topics—would be the principal items of discussion. The fog of public ignorance was cleared on 11 September when the President and Prime Minister Churchill arrived in Quebec and their spokesmen announced that they were there to plan the knockout blow against Japan.

When the President and the Prime Minister joined with their staffs in discussion at Quebec, Allied fortunes of war were favorable in all theatres except the Chinese. American, British and Canadian armies had made a lightning sweep across northern France; on the first day of the conference elements of the Third U.S. Army driving east were joined by units of the Seventh U.S. Army pushing north and General Eisenhower then had an unbroken front from Holland to the Mediterranean. On the same day troops of the First U.S. Army entered Germany in force at three points. German strategy in the West had been a strategy of delay, buying time to strengthen the West Wall. The German High Command had made the grave mistake of leaving 200,000 men in the ports of Brest, Le Havre, Boulogne, Calais and Dunkerque. By denying those ports to the Allied Expeditionary Force the Germans had sought to restrict the Allies to the coast but they had greatly underestimated Allied logistic ability and Herr Hitler now found the AEF probing the West Wall long before his army was sheltered behind it.

In Italy General Alexander’s armies were cracking the eastern end of the Gothic Line, from Pisa to Rimini, which the Germans had been striving to hold. Foul weather and tough resistance had made Allied advances slow and expensive for several weeks but by mid-September there was promise of better progress.

In the East, Soviet armies had launched a great drive in June on their central front which had carried them to the gates of Warsaw before they were halted by bitter German opposition. Now the Soviets were clearing their southern flank. Rumania dropped out of the war on 23 August, the Red Army was driving into Transylvania, and in the week preceding the Quebec Conference Soviet forces over-ran Bulgaria which capitulated promptly and declared war on its old ally Germany. The rest of the Balkan Peninsula was in turmoil as Partisans, Chetniks, Bulgars and Germans fought each other in Yugo-slavia and the Germans began withdrawing from Greece and the Aegean Islands.

In the Pacific the United States Navy launched its first carrier strike against Mindanao in the Philippines on 9 September as a promise of heavier attacks soon to follow, and simultaneous land-based attacks throughout the Philippine Area encountered amazingly little opposition and revealed unsuspected weakness in the Japanese garrisons. In Burma the Japanese were withdrawing southward, a move which gave promise of an early opening of the Ledo Road, but in China the situation was grave as new enemy drives forced the U.S. Fourteenth Air Force to retreat from its forward bases and threatened to cut off the last stretch of coast from the interior. Japanese drives also endangered the new Very Long Range Bomber bases; the largest strike ever made by B–29’s when 100 of them attacked steel mills at Anshan, Manchuria, on 8 September was followed immediately by the first enemy offensive effort against their bases in the Chengtu area.

With China the only dark spot in a worldwide scene of successful Allied drives, with great victories to their credit and the promise of greater ones to come, the President and the Prime Minister convened their Eleventh War Conference to discuss two great problems: postwar control of Germany and the final defeat of Japan.

The Log of the Trip

Saturday, September 9th

The President left the White House at 10:10 p.m. for his special train which was awaiting him at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing “station”. Accompanying the President were the Honorable Henry Morgenthau, Jr., Secretary of the Treasury; Admiral William D. Leahy, U.S.N., Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy; Vice Admiral Ross T. Mclntire, Medical Corps, U.S.N., the Surgeon General of the Navy and the President’s Personal Physician; Miss Grace Tully, the President’s Private Secretary; and Mrs. D. J. Brady, Miss Tully’s assistant. The President and accompanying party arrived at the train at 10:25 p.m. and entrained at once. At 10:27 p.m. this section of the train departed from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and joined up with the first section of the train at 10:47 p.m. The first section had departed from the railroad yards outside the “Bureau” at 10:15 p.m., so as to be in the proper position on time. The combined special train, operating as “Main 88205”, departed from the Virginia Avenue Station, Washington, at 10:50 p.m. for Highland, N.Y., and our ultimate destination of Quebec, Province of Quebec, Canada. At Quebec the President was scheduled to begin a series of conferences on Monday, September 11th, 1944, with the Right Honorable Winston S. Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain.

Already on board the train when the President arrived were Presidential Secretary Stephen T. Early; Rear Admiral Wilson Brown, U.S.N., the President’s Naval Aide; and Major General Edwin M. Watson, U.S.A., the President’s Military Aide, who were to accompany the President to Quebec. Also accompanying the President were the following:

White House Staffs:

• Lt-Commander George A. Fox (Hospital Corps), U.S.N., Assistant to Admiral Mclntire.
• Major DeWitt Greer, Signal Corps, U.S.A., Communications Officer.
• Lieut. (jg) William M. Rigdon, U.S.N., Assistant to Admiral Brown.
• Warrant Officer Horace Caldwell, U.S.A., Cryptographer.
• Chief Yeoman Edwin L. Hoying, U.S.N.R., White House Map Room.
• Master Sergeant Montford L. Snyder, U.S.A., Personal Chauffeur to the President.
• Chief Steward Arthur S. Prettyman, U.S.N. (Retired), Personal Valet to the President.
• Mr. Dewey E. Long, White House Transportation Officer.
• Mr. Michael F. Reilly, Supervising Agent, White House Secret Service Detail.
• Mr. Guy H. Spaman, Assistant Supervising Agent, White House Secret Service Detail.
• Mr. Charles W. Fredericks, Secret Service Agent; and various other Secret Service Agents as listed in roster of the party.
• Mrs. Ruthjane Rumelt, Secretary to Mr. Early.
• Mr. Jack Romagna, White House Press Conference Reporter.
• Miss Louise Hachmeister, White House Chief Telephone Operator.
• Miss Grace Earle, White House Telephone Operator.

Railroad Representatives:

• Mr. Dan L. Moorman, General Passenger Agent, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.
• Mr. Herbert Harwood, Special Passenger Agent, New York Central Railroad.

Post Office Department Representative:

• Mr. Leo J. DeWaard, Post Office Inspector.

Representatives of the Press:

• Mr. Merriman Smith, The United Press.
• Mr. Douglas Cornell, The Associated Press.
• Mr. Robert G. Nixon, The International News Service.

Our route to Highland was via the Baltimore and Ohio to Claremont, N.J., and thence to Highland by way of the New York Central Lines (West Shore Division).

Sunday, September 10th

We arrived at Highland at 7:30 a.m., after an uneventful trip up from Washington. The weather at Highland was sunny and cool. Mrs. Roosevelt had driven down from Hyde Park to meet the President and came aboard the President’s private car at 8:15 a.m. At 8:30 a.m., the President, Mrs. Roosevelt, Admiral Leahy, Admiral Mclntire, Admiral Brown, General Watson and Secretary Early left the train by motor car for the President’s home at Hyde Park where they spent the day. Secretary Morgenthau left the train at the same time for his estate also nearby. He did not accompany us beyond Highland. Miss Tully and Mrs. Brady remained aboard the train during the day.

The President and Mrs. Roosevelt and their party had breakfast at the “Big House” at Hyde Park. After breakfast the President spent the greater part of the morning in his study. Later he, Mrs. Roosevelt, Admirals Leahy, Mclntire, Brown, General Watson, Secretary Early, Miss Malvina Thompson (Mrs. Roosevelt’s Personal Secretary) and Miss Margaret Suckley (Librarian at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library) motored to “Hilltop Cottage” where they enjoyed a picnic lunch. After lunch the party returned to Hyde Park and the President spent most of the afternoon at the Library while the others of the party relaxed and rested about the house.

At 4:00 p.m., the President, Mrs. Roosevelt, Admiral Leahy, Admiral Mclntire, Admiral Brown, General Watson, Secretary Early and Miss Thompson left Hyde Park by automobile for Highland to entrain for Quebec. The party arrived at the train which had been returned from Kingston where it was serviced, at 4:30 p.m., entrained at once, and at 4:37 p.m. we departed Highland for Albany and Quebec. Mrs. Roosevelt and Miss Thompson joined our party at Hyde Park and accompanied the President to Quebec.

Our departure from Highland was two and one-half hours earlier than had been planned. It was moved up in order to ensure the President’s arrival at Quebec before Prime Minister and Mrs. Churchill arrived there. We received word this afternoon that the Prime Minister and his party had arrived in Halifax this forenoon in the S.S. Queen Mary and were proceeding to Quebec by rail. The President desired to be in Quebec to welcome them on their arrival.

Our route to Quebec was via the New York Central (West Shore Division) to Albany; the Delaware and Hudson Railroad to Montreal; and the Canadian Pacific Railway from Montreal to Quebec.

Monday, September 11th

The trip north was uneventful. We crossed the International Border into Canada at Rouse’s Point at 12:30 a.m. An hour later, at Delson, Quebec, we were joined by a detail of four Royal Canadian Mounted Police who were to accompany us to Quebec and later accompany us from Quebec back to the Canadian Border at Rouse’s Point. These Mounties were Inspector Savoi, Corporal Hudon and Constables Bradley and McArthur.

Our train arrived at Quebec—at the Wolfe’s Cove station which is on the banks of the St. Lawrence River just below the Plains of Abraham—at 9:00 a.m. Our train was placed in position for our detraining at once but our arrival was not immediately announced as the President desired to wait here until the arrival of the Prime Minister’s train.

The weather at Quebec, as described by the local press, was “typically fall sunny weather”—clear, cool and most invigorating.

The Governor-General of Canada (The Earl of Athlone), Her Royal Highness Princess Alice (The Countess of Athlone) and the Right Honorable Mackenzie King (The Prime Minister of Canada) called on the President on his train at 9:45 a.m. to welcome him and Mrs. Roosevelt to Canada and Quebec.¹³

The President had left his train at 9:50 a.m. and was seated in his automobile, with the Governor-General, Princess Alice and Prime Minister King standing nearby, when Prime Minister Churchill’s train pulled up alongside our train at Wolfe’s Cove at exactly 10:00 a.m. Prime Minister King went aboard the train to welcome Prime Minister Churchill and a few minutes later, at 10:05 a.m., Prime Minister Churchill and his party left their train, and together with Mr. King, walked over to the President’s automobile where most enthusiastic greetings were exchanged and the cheers of the crowd gathered at the station acknowledged in their typical manners. By now the official welcoming committee had been swelled by the arrival of Major General Sir Eugene Fiset, the Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, and Lady Fiset; the Honorable Maurice Duplessis, the Premier of Quebec; the Honorable C. G. Power, Canadian Minister of Air; Mr. St. Laurent, Minister of Justice for the Province of Quebec;¹⁴ Mr. Borne, Mayor of the City of Quebec; and Lieutenant General J. C. Murchie, Chief of Canadian General Staff.

In the Prime Minister’s party were Mrs. Churchill; Lord Moran, the Prime Minister’s Private Physician; Lord Leathers, British Minister of [War] Transport; Lord Cherwell, British Paymaster General; Admiral of the Fleet Sir Andrew B. Cunningham, First Sea Lord; Field Marshal Sir Alan F. Brooke, Chief of Imperial General Staff; Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Charles Portal, Chief of Air Staff; General Sir Hastings L. Ismay, Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister as Minister of Defense; and Major General R. E. Laycock, Chief of Combined Operations. The Prime Minister was wearing a blue uniform—the uniform of an Elder Brother of Trinity House, ancient London pilotage corporation.

After the exchange of greetings at the train, the combined groups motored to the Citadel. The President and the Governor-General were in the first automobile; Her Royal Highness Princess Alice, Mrs. Roosevelt and Mrs. Churchill in the second; and Prime Ministers Churchill and King were riding in the third car. Their parties followed in a long procession that wound up the steep hill to and across the Plains of Abraham above Wolfe’s Cove and on to the Citadel.

The President and Prime Minister Churchill arrived at the Citadel at 10:25 a.m. Here the President was officially received in Canada. A composite guard of honor of approximately one hundred and fifty men, made up of equal detachments of Royal Canadian Navy, Army and Air Force personnel, was drawn up on the parade ground. This guard was under the command of Lieutenant J. C. Eastman, R.C.N.V.R., of the H.M.C.S. Montcalm. On the President’s arrival on the parade ground, the Royal Twenty-Second Regiment Band, under the direction of Lieutenant Edwin Belanger, played our national anthem, the guard of honor presented arms and our colors were hoisted at the Citadel alongside the British and Canadian colors. No honors were rendered the Prime Minister at this time. On completion of honors for the President, the Prime Minister got out of his car, walked over to the President’s car and the officer in charge of the guard—Lieutenant Eastman—was called up and presented to the President and to the Prime Minister. News photographers and members of the press—some one hundred strong—were present for the ceremonies at the Citadel.

From the parade ground the President went directly to the Governor-General’s summer residence within the Citadel grounds. Here he left his automobile and entered the house. The Prime Minister, Mrs. Churchill, Mrs. Roosevelt, and various other members of the official groups who were remaining at the Citadel left their cars at the parade ground and walked to the nearby residence of the Governor-General. Other members of the combined party left the Citadel at this time for the Chateau Frontenac Hotel where they were quartered during our visit to Quebec.

The President, Mrs. Roosevelt and Admiral Leahy were guests of the Governor-General and Princess Alice at their summer home within the Citadel during our stay at Quebec. The same quarters occupied last year¹⁵ were again assigned the President’s party. The Prime Minister and Mrs. Churchill were likewise guests of the Governor-General and Princess Alice. The Citadel was guarded by its regular garrison augmented by Royal Canadian Mounted Police and our Secret Service men. The special anti-aircraft protection afforded last year was not provided as it was not considered necessary this year.

The President had been preceded to Quebec by the other members of our Joint Chiefs of Staff—General George C. Marshall, Chief of Staff of the Army; Admiral Ernest J. King, Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet and Chief of Naval Operations; General Henry H. Arnold, Commanding General, Army Air Forces; Brigadier General Andrew J. McFarland, Secretary; and Captain Edwin D. Graves, Jr., U.S.N., Deputy Secretary—and their staffs of planners.

On our arrival at the Citadel we found Colonel Richard Park, Jr., U.S.A., Captain Boyce Price, U.S.A., and Lieutenant Ogden S. Collins, Jr., U.S.N.R., who had come to Quebec in advance of us and had set up a map room for the President at the Citadel. The same room was used as was used for this purpose during the 1943 Quebec Conference. The Prime Minister had his own map room at the Citadel, with Captain Pim, R.N.V.R., in charge and assisted by Lieutenant Colonel Hughes-Reckett, Lieutenant Commander Murray, R.N.V.R., and Flight Officer Lyttleton.

Major DeWitt Greer’s Signal Corps crew had the communications set-up functioning on our arrival at the Citadel, so that the President was never out of instantaneous touch with the White House. War and governmental reports for the President had come to him by radio while on the train en route from Washington to Quebec. At the Citadel we had our own telephone exchange, called “Amco”. At the Château the U.S. Army maintained a private telephone exchange, called “Victor.” Both exchanges had direct wire service to Washington and the White House. Direct telegraph wire service was also available between the Citadel and the White House.

The Chateau Frontenac Hotel had been requisitioned by the Canadian Government for the duration of the conference, as it was in 1943, and all conference representatives of the three nations—Canada, Great Britain and the United States—were quartered and subsisted there as guests of the Canadian Government. The hotel was closed to the general public and was policed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. A part of the hotel opening on the Terrace was closed off from the remainder of the hotel and was used as Conference Press Headquarters and telegraph room.

The Official Conference Headquarters and conference rooms were in the Chateau Frontenac and it was there that the various Staffs met daily for conferences. Plenary reports by the Combined British and U.S. Chiefs of Staff were made to the President and the Prime Minister at the Citadel.

Secretary Early, Mr. A. D. Dunton, of the Canadian Press Bureau, and Mr. R. J. Cruikshank of the British Ministry of Information held a joint press conference at Conference Press Headquarters at 11:30 a.m. More than 150 newsmen, representing the world’s press, were present. Daily press conferences were held here by these spokesmen of the Canadian, British and United States governments.

The President, the Prime Minister, Mrs. Roosevelt, Mrs. Churchill and Prime Minister Mackenzie King were luncheon guests of the Governor-General and Princess Alice at the Citadel at 1:30 p.m.¹⁶

After lunch the President visited his map room in the Citadel. He was joined there by Prime Minister Churchill for a review of the latest war news. Before leaving Washington the President had directed the map room to prepare charts, organization tables and graphs in order to demonstrate quickly the tremendous size of our naval force now stationed in the Western Pacific, with statistics giving an outline of the enormity of the logistics problem. This preparation was made in order that from the very beginning of discussions at Quebec there should be a common understanding of the naval problems and the difficulties of supply. With the help of the charts the President outlined the problem to the Prime Minister.¹⁷

During the afternoon the Honorable Ray Atherton, United States Ambassador to Canada, called on the President.¹⁸

At 8:30 p.m., the President and Mrs. Roosevelt attended a viceregal dinner at the Citadel as guests of the Governor-General and Her Royal Highness Princess Alice. The guest list also included Prime Minister and Mrs. Churchill; Prime Minister Mackenzie King; Cardinal Villeneuve; Right Reverend Philip Carrington, Anglican Archbishop [Bishop] of Quebec; Premier Duplessis of Quebec; Honorable Ray Atherton and Mrs. Atherton; Admiral William D. Leahy; Admiral E. J. King; General George C. Marshall; General H. H. Arnold; Honorable Stephen T. Early; Lieutenant General B. B. Somervell, Commanding General, Army Service Forces; Rear Admiral Wilson Brown; Vice Admiral Ross T. Mclntire; Major General Edwin M. Watson; Miss Malvina Thompson; Right Honorable Malcolm Mac-Donald, United Kingdom High Commissioner to Canada; Admiral of the Fleet Sir Andrew B. Cunningham; Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke; Marshal of the Royal Air [Force] Sir Charles Portal; Major General R. Laycock; General Sir Hastings L. Ismay; Field Marshal Sir John Dill, Chief of the British Joint Staff Mission to the United States; Admiral Sir Percy Noble; Lieutenant General G. N. Macready; Air Marshal Sir William Welsh; Lord Cher well; Commander C. R. Thompson, Naval Aide to the Prime Minister; Mr. John Martin, Secretary to the Prime Minister; Sir Eugene Fiset, Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec, and Lady Fiset; Dr. E. H. Coleman, Canadian Under-Secretary of State; the Canadian Chiefs of Staff Air Marshal R. Leckie, Lieutenant General J. C. Murchie, and Vice Admiral G. C. Jones; Major General Maurice Pope, Military Aide to Prime Minister King; and Colonel D. B. Papineau, Aide to Prime Minister King.¹⁹

After the dinner the President turned in.

Tuesday, September 12th

At 11:30 a.m., the President, Prime Minister Churchill, Prime Minister King, the Governor-General, Princess Alice, Mrs. Roosevelt and Mrs. Churchill went to the “sun-deck” of the Citadel where a large group of news and service photographers took pictures of the party. The battlements of the ancient Citadel, the harbor and distant views of the city served as background for the pictures taken.

At 1:00 p.m., the President, Prime Minister Churchill, Prime Minister King, Mrs. Roosevelt and Mrs. Churchill had lunch with the Governor-General and Princess Alice at the Citadel.²⁰ After lunch the party assembled in the conference room at the Citadel where the Prime Minister demonstrated some of the harbor models—ships and equipment used to form artificial harbors for the invasion of France—that he had brought with him from London. After the demonstration he presented the models to the President for eventual display at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library at Hyde Park, N.Y.

At 8:00 p.m., the Governor-General and Princess Alice entertained at dinner at the Citadel.²¹ Their guests included the President, Prime Minister Churchill, Mrs. Roosevelt, Mrs. Churchill, Admiral Leahy, General Marshall, Admiral King, General Arnold, Admiral of the Fleet Cunningham, Field Marshal Brooke, Marshal of the Royal Air Force Portal and Field Marshal Dill.

The Governor-General and Princess Alice left Quebec City by train after the dinner for an inspection trip to Arvida, Quebec.

Wednesday, September 13th

At 11:45 a.m., the Combined British and American Chiefs of Staff (Admiral Leahy, General Marshall, Admiral King, General Arnold, Brigadier General A. J. McFarland, Captain E. D. Graves, Field Marshal Brooke, Marshal of the Royal Air Force Portal, Admiral of the Fleet Cunningham, Field Marshal Dill, General Ismay, Major General Hollis, Major General Lay cock) came to the Citadel for a plenary meeting with the President and Prime Minister Churchill.²² The President’s Naval Aide, Rear Admiral Wilson Brown, was also in attendance. The Combined Chiefs of Staff reported the results of their conferences to date and their schedule for further meetings. The President and the Prime Minister made informal comments about some of the decisions reached by the Combined Chiefs and outlined various measures that they wished to have studied and made the subject of further reports.

The President and Prime Minister Churchill lunched together at the Citadel at 1:00 p.m.²³ Mrs. Roosevelt and Mrs. Churchill had lunch at Spencerwood as guests of Lady Fiset.

Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau, Jr., and Vice Admiral Emory S. Land, Construction Corps, U.S.N. (Retired), Chairman of the War Shipping Administration, arrived in Quebec during the afternoon. Admiral Land was accompanied by Rear Admiral W. W. Smith, Mr. John Maclay, Mr. Granville Conway and Mr. Richard Bissen [Bissell?]. Secretary Morgenthau was accompanied by Mr. Harry D. White. The President conferred with Secretary Morgenthau at length after his arrival.²⁴

The President, Mrs. Roosevelt, Miss Tully and Miss Thompson had tea together in the President’s quarters at 5:00 p.m.

At 7:00 p.m., speaking from the Chateau Frontenac, Mrs. Roosevelt and Mrs. Churchill made a broadcast to the people of Canada.

8:00 p.m.: Dinner at the Citadel—The President, Prime Minister Churchill, Lord Cherwell, Lord Moran, Lord Leathers, Admiral Land, Admiral Leahy, Secretary Morgenthau and Admiral Mclntire.²⁵ Conference discussions followed dinner and lasted until 11:15 p.m. The President retired shortly afterwards.

Prime Minister Mackenzie King held a reception at the Chateau Frontenac this evening for members of the Conference delegations. Mrs. Roosevelt, Mrs. Churchill, the Lieutenant-Governor and Lady Fiset were also in the receiving line.

Thursday, September 14th

The President’s personal flag was hoisted at the Citadel this morning. It had been intended to hoist his flag when that of the Governor-General was hauled down yesterday morning following his departure from Quebec but it was found that we had no President’s flag on hand and that one would have to sent up from Washington.

The President attended two separate conferences this forenoon. The first one, at 11:00 a.m., was with Prime Minister Churchill and Mr. Richard Law, the British Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs.²⁶ The second, at 11:30 a.m., was with the Prime Minister, Secretary Morgenthau and Mr. H. D. White, an Assistant [to the] Secretary of the Treasury.²⁷

The President lunched at the Citadel at 1:00 p.m. with the Prime Minister, Mrs. Roosevelt, Mrs. Churchill, Secretary Morgenthau, Mr. White, Mr. Law and Commander Thompson.²⁸

During the afternoon Mrs. Roosevelt and Mrs. Churchill visited the Canadian Women’s Army Corps barracks at Quebec.

The Right Honorable Sir Anthony Eden, British Minister for Foreign Affairs, arrived in Quebec from London this afternoon. The Honorable Sir Alexander Cadogan, British Permanent Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs and British Representative at the Dumbarton Oaks Conference,²⁹ arrived in Quebec from Washington this afternoon. Both Mr. Eden and Mr. [Sir Alexander] Cadogan came for conference discussions.

The President, Mrs. Roosevelt, Miss Tully, Mrs. Brady and Miss Thompson had tea in his quarters at 4:45 p.m. Mrs. Roosevelt and Miss Thompson left Quebec, by train, for Hyde Park after the tea.

At 5:30 p.m., the President met with Prime Minister Churchill, Secretary Morgenthau and Lord Cherwell for discussions.³⁰

Dinner at the Citadel was at 8:00 p.m., with the President, Prime Minister Churchill, Secretary Morgenthau, Mr. Law, Lord Cherwell, Mr. Eden, and Mr. Cadogan attending.³¹ After dinner a motion picture, “Hail the Conquering Hero”, was shown at the Citadel for the party.

The President retired immediately after the movies.

Friday, September 15th

At 12:00 o’clock, Noon, the President met in conference with Prime Minister Churchill, Secretary Morgenthau, Lord Cherwell, Mr. Eden and Mr. Cadogan.³²

At 1:00 p.m., the President lunched at the Citadel together with the Prime Minister, Mr. Eden, Mr. Cadogan, Mrs. Churchill and Mr. Law.³³ Prime Minister King dropped in on the group after lunch and joined in conference discussions that lasted until 3:00 p.m.³⁴

The President had tea with Empress Zita of Austria, her sons Archduke Otto and Archduke Felix and her Lady in Waiting, Countess Kerssenbrock, and Miss Tully in his quarters at the Citadel at 5:00 p.m.³⁵

At 6:00 p.m., Secretary Morgenthau called on the President and was in conference with him until 7:15 p.m.³⁶

Dinner at the Citadel was at 8:00 p.m. The President dined with Prime Minister and Mrs. Churchill, Mr. Eden and Mr. Cadogan.³⁷ After dinner the motion picture “Wilson” and a Navy film of the recent air fighting at Saipan were shown at the Citadel. Mrs. Churchill attended with the President but Prime Minister Churchill could not attend because of a scheduled British conference. This was a lengthy motion picture program and was not concluded until past midnight. The President retired immediately after the movies.

Saturday, September 16th

The Governor-General and Princess Alice returned to the Citadel this morning from their inspection trip to Arvida.

At 12 o’clock Noon the second plenary meeting of the conference was held at the Citadel with the President, the Prime Minister and the British and American Chiefs of Staffs attending.³⁸ This meeting marked the close of the 1944 Quebec Conference (Octagon). The plenary meeting adjourned at 1:30 p.m., when the President, the Prime Minister and the British and American Chiefs of Staff adjourned to the “sundeck” of the Citadel where they posed for pictures by news and service photographers.

The President lunched at the Citadel at 1:45 p.m. in company with the Prime Minister, Mrs. Churchill and Mr. Eden with and as guests of the Governor-General and Princess Alice.³⁹

Admiral Brown returned to Washington this afternoon by air, traveling in the “Executive Plane” with General Marshall. Mr. Early and Mrs. Rumelt also returned by air.

At 3:15 p.m., at a very colorful ceremony on the “sundeck” of the Citadel, Chancellor Morris W. Wilson and a party from the faculty of McGill University, Montreal, conferred honorary LL.D. degrees on the President and Prime Minister Churchill. Members of the Press and news and service photographers were present.

At 3:45 p.m., the President, Prime Minister Churchill and Prime Minister King held a joint press conference on the “sundeck” of the Citadel for the more than 150 press correspondents gathered in Quebec from all over the world to cover the Quebec Conference.⁴⁰ Prime Minister King presided and spoke first; the President spoke next; and finally the Prime Minister of Great Britain. A prepared communiqué concerning the results and purpose of the conference, issued jointly by President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill, was handed to the press at this time. A copy of this communiqué is appended, marked “A”.⁴¹

After the completion of the press conference the President returned to his quarters in the Citadel. Later during the afternoon Princess Alice, Prime Minister Churchill and Mrs. Churchill came to his quarters to bid the President goodbye.

The President left the Citadel at 5:30 p.m., together with Admiral Leahy, for his train which had now been moved from the Quebec railroad station back to Wolfe’s Cove. He was accompanied to the train by the Governor-General and Prime Minister King who remained at the station to see him off.

Our train departed Quebec (Wolfe’s Cove) at 6:00 p.m., for the return trip to Hyde Park and Washington. We traveled over the lines of the Canadian National Railway, crossing the St. Lawrence just below Quebec and coming via the Provincial towns of Cadorna, Val Alain, St. Leonard Junction, St. Hyacinthe and Southward East to Rouse’s Point.

Except for one day (Wednesday) when it rained most of the day, the weather at Quebec during our stay was most pleasant. However, his attendance at the numerous conferences and other engagements prevented the President from leaving the Citadel even once during his six days stay at Quebec.

Sunday, September 17th

We crossed the International Border at Rouse’s Point, N.Y., at 12:15 a.m. At Rouse’s Point we dropped off our Royal Canadian Mounted Police escort, and also transferred over to the lines and facilities of the Delaware and Hudson Railroad for the continuation of our journey to Hyde Park.

We arrived in Albany, N.Y., at 6:45 a.m., where our train was turned over to the New York Central Railroad (West Shore Division).

We arrived at Highland, N.Y., at 9:15 a.m. Mrs. Roosevelt met the President on his arrival here. The President detrained at 9:20 a.m. and motored to Hyde Park. He was accompanied to Hyde Park by Mrs. Roosevelt, Admiral Leahy, Lieutenant Commander H. G. Bruenn, Medical Corps, U.S. Naval Reserve—who had joined our party at Quebec—, Miss Tully and Mrs. Brady. Prime Minister and Mrs. Churchill were to join the President and Mrs. Roosevelt at Hyde Park on Monday, September 18th, for a brief visit.⁴²

Admiral Mclntire, General Watson, Lieutenant Rigdon, Chief Yeoman Hoying, Mr. Jack Romagna and Mr. Dan L. Moorman proceeded on to Jersey City with the President’s train. The others of the party remained at Poughkeepsie. At Jersey City one car of the special train was detached and hitched on to the Baltimore and Ohio’s “Capitol Limited”, so that Admiral Mclntire, General Watson, Lieutenant Rigdon, Chief Yeoman Hoying, Mr. Romagna and Mr. Moorman arrived in Washington at 5:10 p.m.

The President, Admiral Leahy, Lieutenant Commander Bruenn, Miss Tully, Mrs. Brady and all other members of the party stopping off at Poughkeepsie and Hyde Park returned to Washington at 8:00 a.m., Thursday, September 21st.

1. See Foreign Relations, 1941, vol. i, pp. 341 ff.
2. Released August 14, 1941. For text see Department of State, Executive Agreement Series No. 236; 55 Stat. (2) 1603; Foreign Relations, 1941, vol. i, pp. 368–369.
3. See Foreign Relations, The Conferences at Washington, 1941–1942, and Casablanca, 1943, pp. 61 ff.
4. See Foreign Relations, The Conferences at Washington, 1941–1942, and Casablanca, 1943, pp. 422 ff.
5. See ibid., pp. 536 ff.
6. See Foreign Relations, The Conferences at Washington and Quebec, 1943.
7. See Foreign Relations, The Conferences at Cairo and Tehran, 1943.
8. See ante, p. 3.
9. Cf. ante, p. 4.
10. See ante, p. 5.
11. See ante, pp. 10 ff.; Foreign Relations, The Conferences at Malta and Yalta, 1945, pp. 3–5.
12. See ante, p. 17.
13. Mackenzie King in fact arrived at the station first and had a conversation with Roosevelt before the Governor General and Princess Alice arrived. For further details of the arrangements from Roosevelt’s arrival to the inspection of the guard of honor at the Citadel, including Mackenzie King’s discussion with Roosevelt of elections in the United States and Canada, see Pickersgill and Forster, pp. 64–66.
14. St. Laurent was Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, not an official of the Quebec provincial government.
15. During the First Quebec Conference, August 17–24, 1943.
16. See post, p. 299.
17. No further information has been found relating to this meeting in the map room.
18. No record of Roosevelt’s discussion with Atherton has been found.
19. The Leahy Diary indicates that Moran, Leathers, and Mrs. Philip Carrington were also present at this dinner. No evidence has been found that matters of substance were discussed. For an account of the dinner conversation based on Mackenzie King’s notes, see Pickersgill and Forster, pp. 68–69.
20. See post, p. 306.
21. See post, p. 311.
22. See post, p. 312.
23. See post, p. 319.
24. See post, p. 323.
25. See post, p. 324.
26. See post, p. 342.
27. See post, p. 342. It was Cherwell rather than White who attended this meeting. See post, p. 342, fn. 1.
28. No record of the discussion during luncheon has been found.
29. i.e., the discussions on postwar world organization which were then taking place at Dumbarton Oaks, an estate in Washington, D.C., among representatives of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union. See Foreign Relations, 1944, vol. i, pp. 713 ff.
30. See post, p. 348.
31. See post, p. 349.
32. See post, p. 360.
33. No record of the discussion during luncheon has been found.
34. See post, p. 364.
35. See post, p. 367.
36. See post, p. 370.
37. No record of the discussion during dinner has been found.
38. See post, p. 377.
39. See post, p. 383.
40. See post, p. 384.
41. For the text of the Communiqué of the Second Quebec Conference, see post, p. 477.
42. See post, p. 481.