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Roosevelt, Franklin D. - WWII Autograph Notes

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:4,000.00 USD Estimated At:8,000.00 - 10,000.00 USD
Roosevelt, Franklin D. - WWII Autograph Notes
<Our item number 104345><B>Roosevelt, Franklin D.</B> &#40;1882-1945&#41; 32nd President of the United States &#40;1933-45&#41;. Autograph Note unsigned &#40;with &#34;<I>F.D.R</I>.&#34; in the text&#41; on White House note pad, 1page, 8 x 5 1/8&#34;, Washington, n.d &#40;c. December 1941&#41;. Written in dark pencil; matted and framed to an overall size of 13½x11&#34;. Ready for display.<BR><BR>In the immediate wake of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt plunges into global war planning in this four-point note, or &#34;chit&#34; as he liked to call it, probably directed to Harry Hopkins or another senior advisor. FDR writes: &#34;1. <I>Radio to Chiang to set up Joint Strategic Board to make plan for operations and report it to A.B.C.D</I>. [American, British, Chinese, Dutch East Indies] <I>+ Russia. 2. Radio to W.S.C.</I> [Winston S. Churchill] <I>proposing conference on 22nd in Wash. including A.B.C.D.R. 3. Radio FDR to Stalin, conference in Moscow & Wash. 4. Arrange conference in Singapo re</I>.&#34;<BR><BR>The FDR Library has a 13 December 1941 letter from Henry Stimson to FDR that helps us date this intriguing note between 9 and 13 December. Stimson&#39;s letter addresses all the points enumerated here, including the Moscow conference and discussions with Chiang Kai-Shek. Clearly Roosevelt had broached these ideas prior to the 13th. The Singapore conference between British and American military brass took place on 18-20 December 1941, while Chiang Kai-Shek conferred with Allied emissaries in Chunking on 17 December. Roosevelt clearly wanted the recommendations from those two camps by 20 December, prior to Churchill&#39;s arrival in Washington on 22 December for their historic Arcadia Conference, which reaffirmed the &#34;Germany first&#34; strategy of the August 1941 Atlantic Charter and resulted in the &#34;Declaration by the United Nations,&#34; a sweeping statement of Allied war aims.<BR><BR>That key meeting had been proposed by the British, who worried that Ameri can rage over Pearl Harbor might lead to a Pacific-first strategy. Churchill requested a meeting on 9 December and set sail for America on the 10th. Churchill stayed in the White House from 22 December to 14 January 1942. The decision was made that the Allies &#40;to Chiang&#39;s dismay&#41; would conduct only a holding operation in the Pacific. The Anglo-American alliance would be fraught with many tensions, but Roosevelt and Churchill cemented their friendship during this long visit, and their collaboration would form the foundation of the victorious alliance. The Declaration drafted at the Arcadia Conference also marked the first usage of the term &#34;United Nations,&#34; coined by Roosevelt himself.<BR><BR>Stalin, by contrast, showed no such eagerness to junket across the Atlantic. While second-tier U.S. and Soviet officials regularly shuttled between Washington and Moscow, Stalin would never venture further than Teheran. U.S.-Soviet relations remained mistrustful throughout the w ar, and Stalin proved impervious to FDR&#39;s fabled charm during their meetings at Teheran and Yalta. <BR>Estimated Value &#36;8,000-10,000. <BR><BR>Our item number 104345<BR><IMAGES><P ALIGN=CENTER"><IMG SRC="http://www.goldbergcoins.net/liveauction/38jpegs/104345.jpg"> </P></IMAGES> "