Evening star., 1948-02-09
CHAPTER Is.

President Roosevelt agreed to call
White House meeting Of the Sen
ate leaders Of both parties for the
evening OF July 1S, 1889. At this
meeting the President and I in
tended to make a final appeal for
support of the bill eliminating the
arms embargo from the Neutrality
Act) or, failing In this, to make the
opposition take the responsibility
for what would happen If the legis-
lation were not passed.
Both the President and I felt We
had to make one last, supreme at
tempt to prevail on the Senate
leaders to recognize fully and clearly
the perils to our own Nation that
were just ahead If war should come
In Europe.
AS the meeting came to order IN
the Presidents upstairs study, a
reasonable cordiality was apparent
on the surface, but the feeling un-
derneath was tense. Among those
attending were Vice President Gar
ner, Majority Leader Barkley, Key
Pittman, Minority Leader McNary,
Warren Austin, deputy minority
leader, and William E. Borah, rank
ing minority member of the Foreign
Relations Committee.
The President opened the discus
sion by referring to Senator Nyes
extreme isolationist views which
were blocking the passage of our
measure in the Senate. Borah
rather quickly interrupted and, with
sweeping gesture, said: There
are others, Mr.. President.
Borah Opposes Embargo Repeal.
The President, somewhat taken
back, turned to him and asked:
What did you say, Senator Borah?"
Borah thereupon repeated: There
are others, Mr.. President" A dia-
Iogue between the President and
Borah, during which Borah en-
phasized his opposition to repeal OF
the arms embargo and stated en-
phatically his view that no war
would occur, at least in the near fu-
! ture.
The President thereupon turned
to me and said: "Cordell. what 40
YOU think about the possibility OF
danger ahead?"
replied earnestly, restraining
myself as much as I could, If Sen
ator Borah could see only some OF
the cables coming to the State De-
partment about the extremely
dangerous outlook in the interna-
tional situation, I feel satisfled ne
would modify his views" =.
Thereupon Borah, in a tone OF
emphasis and absolute finality, SAID
he had access to information from
abroad which satisfied him IN his
iudgment. This information was
that there would be no war IN Eu-
rome in the near future. He I'M
piled that it was more reliable IN
formation than that received at the
State Department.
More recently have noticed pub
lication Of what purported to be
Senator Boral1's written memoran-
dunn of this conversation. I shall
not enter into discussion OF the
precise verbiage Of the conversation,
but Z must say that Borah's Ian
guage created the definite, fixed
understanding in my mind as to
what occurred, as 7 have just re-
lated it. President Roosevelt made
clear on more than one occasion
that he derived the same under
standing as I had from Borah's
utterances. et.r
Borah Everlastingly Wrong.
Never In my past experience had
III found it nearly so difficult to
restrain myself and refrain from a
spontaneous explosion. knew from
masses of official facts piled high
on one another at the State Depart
ment that Borah was everlastingly
wrong and that we were looking
squarely at a state Of imminent dam
ger of a general outbreak of war
before the end Of Summer-and I
said so.
After other leaders of both parties
had unanimously expressed their
| view that IL WAS impossible to secure