270. Editorial Note
A letter of September 25 from Ambassador Allison to Assistant Secretary Robertson is described by Allison in his memoir, Ambassador From the Prairie:
“There was but little evidence that Washington had paid much attention to my comments on the Ad Hoc Committee report and this, coming on top of other Washington actions, or lack of actions, during the past month or two, was so discouraging that on September 25 I wrote a long letter to Walter Robertson detailing the causes of my discontent and stating that if the Department no longer had confidence in my judgment, I was prepared to resign as Ambassador and request retirement from the Foreign Service. One of my chief complaints was the tendency in Washington to accept CIA reports in preference to those from the Embassy.”
He received a reply over 2 months later, Allison states, assuring him of the value of the Embassy’s reports. For Allison’s further comments and quotations from the two letters, see Ambassador From the Prairie, pages 314–315. Neither Allison’s letter nor Robertson’s reply has been found in Department of State files. Telegram 1178 to Djakarta, November 29, noted that “problems raised your letter September 25, received here October 14, covered in letter mailed you November 25.” (Department of State, Central Files, 123–Allison, John Moore)