S/AE Files
The Secretary of War (Stimson) to President Truman
Dear Mr. President: In handing you today my memorandum75 about our relations with Russia in respect to the atomic bomb, I [Page 41] am not unmindful of the fact that when in Potsdam I talked with you about the question whether we could be safe in sharing the atomic bomb with Russia while she was still a police state and before she put into effect provisions assuring personal rights of liberty to the individual citizen.76
I still recognize the difficulty and am still convinced of the importance of the ultimate importance of a change in Russian attitude toward individual liberty but I have come to the conclusion that it would not be possible to use our possession of the atomic bomb as a direct lever to produce the change. I have become convinced that any demand by us for an internal change in Russia as a condition of sharing in the atomic weapon would be so resented that it would make the objective we have in view less probable.
I believe that the change in attitude toward the individual in Russia will come slowly and gradually and I am satisfied that we should not delay our approach to Russia in the matter of the atomic bomb until that process has been completed. My reasons are set forth in the memorandum I am handing you today. Furthermore, I believe that this long process of change in Russia is more likely to be expedited by the closer relationship in the matter of the atomic bomb which I suggest and the trust and confidence that I believe would be inspired by the method of approach which I have outlined.
Faithfully yours,
- A manuscript note indicated that this letter and the accompanying memorandum, infra, were handed to and discussed with the President by Mr. Stimson on September 12.↩
- See Conference of Berlin (Potsdam), vol. ii, p. 1155.↩