501.BB Palestine/3–2248
Memorandum of Telephone Conversation, by Mr. Robert M. McClintock
Mr. Clifford telephoned me this morning to say that the President had requested him to prepare “a little study” of recent chronology on the handling of the Palestine case in the Security Council. He said that he had heard that on Friday I had talked to Mr. Lovett about a certain matter which had been cleared with Secretary Forrestal and which Mr. Lovett had requested be cleared with the President. I told Mr. Clifford that I had spoken to Mr. Lovett on the telephone Friday morning and had informed him of a certain security aspect of the Palestine problem which had been cleared by Mr. Bohlen with the Secretary of National Defense, and that Mr. Lovett had suggested [Page 752] that this be checked with the President. I said that I had immediately sought to get in touch with Mr. Bohlen; that the latter was then at the Capitol; and that I wrote Mr. Bohlen a memorandum of the Under Secretary’s instructions.
Mr. Clifford asked if anyone in the State Department had sought to gain White House clearance pursuant to Mr. Lovett’s request. I said that so far as I was aware no one had unless it was Mr. Bohlen himself. However, I had been absent from Washington since Friday afternoon and was not personally aware what had gone on since my departure. I added that, since Mr. Bohlen had secured clearance from Mr. Forrestal, I thought that the White House clearance suggested by Mr. Lovett should go through Mr. Bohlen.
Mr. Clifford concluded the interview by asking me “Did you, yourself, try to clear this point with the White House?” I said I had not.