The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1937-03-06

not even the SCaCe OePaICLAl
was all about.
Inside fact, however, is that
Ambassador Bullitt has come
back with q personal plan for
preserving the peace Of Europe,
which he Is putting UP to the
President.
This is not the first interna-
tional peace plan Bill Bullitt has
pulled out Of the grey felt hat
which covers his round and bar
rem bean.
Back in 1882, after Roosevelt
had been elected, but not yet
iz1augurated, Bullitt made Q
mysterious round Of the Eu.
ropean capitals laying plans for
ROosevelrs subsequent talks
with Ramsay Macdonald, Her.
riot and other delegates TO the
London Economic Conference.
Then, as now, Built remained
carefully In the background. He
had no official status, no diplo-
matte passport, and he denied
out Of both sides Of his mouth
that he represented Roosevelt.
Yet on the very day Roosevelt
was making the same denial at
his Warm Springs press confer
ence, 1t subsequently developed
that Bullitt had phoned the Presi-
dent.elect from the study Of RAM
say Macdonald at No. 10 Down.
ing street.
Social Scion
Bullitt's yen for the unusual
was cultivated at an early age.
Scion Of q wealthy Philadelphia
family, che was graduated from
Yale, and then came home to
startle the staid society of the
City Of Brotherly Love as play
boy journalist, even wrote a sen.
sational novel about 1t, called sits
Not Done.
The United States entered the
World war while Bill was a
foreign correspondent, and he left
the newspaper game to join the
State Department, from which he
was catapulted into fame and
furore as an adviser to Woodrow
Wilson at Versailles.
Bullitts biggest Job during
the peace conference was as .
secret emissary TO Russia to ar.
range relations with the newly
formed Soviet. Lloyd George
and Clemenceau cut the ground
from under him by placing the
Allied money ON the White Rus
Sias, but Bullitt came back and
convinced there was something
In the Russian revolution which
would live.
There Is an irrepressible streak
OF idealism constantly bubbling
up in Bill Bullitt, but at the
Versailles Conference 1t was al
most quenched. Finally he re.
signed, returned home. and later
gave sensational evidence before
a senate committee regarding the
pitfalls ahead of European peace.
Soviet Envoy
Subsequent events have more
than justified Built, but his OPP
timistic idealism remains un-
diinmed. It was this idealism
which inspired Bullitt's part in
the resumption Of relations with
Russia. Roosevelt would have
recognized Russia anyway, but
Bullitt pushed 1t TO an earlier
conclusion, later became first y.
8. ambassador to the Soviet.
Coupled with Builit's idealism
Is o tendency, when things don't
60 his way, TO get sore and quit.
This was what he did at Ver-
sailles, and what he did at Mos
COW.
He began his ambassado
career In q blaze Of popularity.
He taught polo TO Litvinoff and
Stain. His small daughter
played dolls with Lltvinofs's
daughter. The Soviet gave
him the choicest building lot
In Moscow for his embassy.
He was the idol Of Russia.
But when Built ran against q
snag In negotiating a debt agree
ment, he got sore. Relations be-
tween him and Stain cooled.
Litvinoff no longer was the eager
polo student. 1t became dull in
Moscow and Bullitt quit. a
He came back to Washington
last summer, still an idealist, still
bubbling over with enthusiasm,
still looking for more diplomatic
worlds to conquer.
R00sevelt's Friend
Bullitt's chief assets have been
contagious charm, a personality
that he can make hot or cold
like running water, and. in these
later years. the ability TO make
Franklin Roosevelt believe that
anything Bullitt says is gospel.
This was the secret OF his
ability to be appointed Secretary
Hull's assistant when Hull defin-
itely didn't want him. and later
to become ambassador to France
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