Editorial Note
Roosevelt arrived at Hyde Park, following the Second Quebec Conference, about 9:30 a.m. on September 17, 1944, accompanied by Leahy, Lieutenant Commander Bruenn, Miss Tully, and Mrs. Brady (see the Log, ante, p. 294). Mrs. Roosevelt was already at Hyde Park, having left Quebec on September 14 (see the Log, ante, p. 291). Hassett flew from Washington to meet Roosevelt at Hyde Park on September 17 (see Hassett, p. 271), and Hopkins arrived at noon on September 18 (see Leahy, p. 263).
Churchill traveled to Hyde Park from Quebec a day after the President, arriving there at 11 a.m. on September 18, accompanied by Mrs. Churchill, the Churchills’ daughter Mary, Leathers, Ismay, Moran, Martin, and Thompson (see Hassett, p. 271, Churchill, Triumph and Tragedy, p. 160, and Pawle, pp. 323-324). The Churchill party left Hyde Park at 10:30 p.m., September 19, traveling by train to New York, where they boarded the Queen Mary for the trip back to England (see Leahy, p. 266).
Other guests who were present during Churchill’s visit included the Duke of Windsor, who came to luncheon on September 18 (see Leahy, pp. 263-264); Morgenthau and Mr. and Mrs. Lytle Hull, who came to dinner on that date (see Morgenthau Diary, vol. 772, and Leahy Diary); three Roosevelt cousins—Mrs. Dowd, Miss Delano, and Miss Suckley—who were at luncheon with Mrs. Roosevelt, Churchill, and Leahy on September 19 (see Leahy Diary); and the President’s son-in-law, Major John Boettiger (see Leahy, p. 264). Except for Morgenthau and Boettiger (see below), no indication has been found that any of these guests participated in the substantive work of the Roosevelt-Churchill meetings at Hyde Park.
Since Churchill was a guest in the Roosevelts’ home, there took place a number of informal and unscheduled conversations between him and Roosevelt, and the President (as was his custom) prepared no minutes or memoranda of conversation on them. The documents which follow constitute the only official papers which the editors have found which were prepared for or relate to the Hyde Park discussions.
Leahy, pp. 264-265, makes brief mention of (1) a discussion of “political questions involving Italy, Yugoslavia, and Russia” before [Page 482] dinner on September 18; (2) signature of the report of the Combined Chiefs of Staff on Octagon; (3) the drafting of a statement on Italy in which Leahy, Hopkins, and Boettiger took part—possibly the draft printed post, p. 493; (4) a luncheon on September 19 at which Mrs. Roosevelt and Churchill discussed means of preserving international peace; and (5) a Roosevelt–Churchill discussion of military and industrial uses of atomic energy, which led to the initialing of an aide-mémoire on this subject (see post, p. 492).
Morgenthau reported to a group of colleagues at the Treasury Department on September 19 that he had learned at dinner the preceding night at Hyde Park—apparently from Churchill or Martin—that the British Government would name the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Sir John Anderson) to serve on the committee on lend-lease problems which had been agreed to at Quebec, but that he would probably be represented on the committee by Lord Keynes. Morgenthau further reported that he had said that this would be quite acceptable. (Morgenthau Diary, vol. 772)
It appears from Woodward, pp. 295-296, that Churchill intended to speak to Roosevelt at Hyde Park about armistice terms for Bulgaria and spheres of influence in the Balkans, but no evidence has been found to show that Churchill did in fact raise these questions with the President.
Churchill’s Hyde Park visit is mentioned also in Churchill, Triumph and Tragedy, pp. 160-161, in Hassett, pp. 271-272, and in Pawle, p. 324, but these sources add no information on the substance of the Roosevelt-Churchill conversations.