Office of the Historian

860h.01/9–445

Memorandum by the Ambassador to Yugoslavia (Patterson), Temporarily in Washington37

[Washington, August 31, 1945.]

I spent thirteen minutes with the President. He first asked me if I were going back soon and I said next week. He then said he had made Tito come to terms on the Trieste problem and I told him what I had put in the memorandum when I went to see Tito on the 72-Hour Ultimatum to him.38 I said I told Tito that without the authority of my government and unofficially he could expect no economic help from my country whatsoever unless he carried out his solemn commitments made at Yalta and upon which we recognized him. The President replied “You did the right thing”. I asked him if I could take [Page 1253] his greetings to Tito and to King Peter and he said “By all means, do so”. I said “Mr. President, Tito is colorful, dynamic, hospitable, a military genius, but a thorough Communist, and his economic and political philosophy is not ours. Nevertheless, since he is intelligent I would suggest that I be permitted to bring him back to America for a month of indoctrination,39 provided the elections go reasonably well.” The President replied “That’s a fine thing and you do it.” The President also said “I like the idea”. He further stated that I could use a two-fisted, tough policy with Tito.

I told the President that I had a letter from Joe Davies40 this morning and that Joe suggested that possibly a constitutional monarchy would work, like England has today. The President replied “A constitutional monarchy sounds good”.

Further, I told the President that Tito and I were good friends, that I had seen a good deal of him, and that I was returning with 5,000 cartridges so that we could go hunting at his invitation.

  1. This memorandum was forwarded to the President by Secretary of State Byrnes on September 4, 1945.↩
  2. See vol. iv, p. 1176.↩
  3. In his covering memorandum of September 4, 1945, the Secretary of State informed the President: “I have taken the liberty of telling Patterson not to extend the formal invitation to Tito until I return. I took the liberty of doing this because I thought we should find out what is his attitude toward the Italian settlement before inviting him to visit you. Upon my return I will remind you of it.” (860h.01/9–445)↩
  4. Joseph E. Davies, American Ambassador in the Soviet Union, 1937–38: in Belgium 1938–39.↩