No. 358
Editorial Note
According to Secretary Acheson (Present at the Creation, page 601), during the morning of January 18 the military representatives of the British Delegation visited the Pentagon where Secretary Lovett briefed them on atomic armaments and provided lunch. At this morning session the military also drafted a joint communiqué in effect ratifying earlier NATO decisions with respect to SACLANT. No other record of this session at the Pentagon has been found; however, Acheson states further that Prime Minister Churchill read the draft communiqué in the President’s anteroom, “tore it up and tossed the pieces into the air”, and then entered the Cabinet Room for the meeting described infra.