Oral History Interviews with Admiral Robert L. Dennison
		Graduate of U.S. Naval Academy, 1923; Assistant Chief of Naval Operations, 1945-47; Commander of the U.S.S. Missouri, 1947-48; Naval Aide to President Harry S. Truman,1948-53; Commander in Chief of the Atlantic Command, Commander of the Atlantic Fleet, and Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic, 1960-63.
		Interview Transcripts September 10, 1971 | October 6, 1971 | November 2, 1971 By Jerry N. Hess

NOTICE
These are transcripts of tape-recorded interviews conducted for the Harry S. Truman Library. A draft of each transcript was edited by the interviewee but only minor emendations were made; therefore, the reader should remember that these are essentially transcripts of the spoken, rather than the written word.

Numbers appearing in square brackets (ex. [45]) within the transcript indicate the pagination in the original, hardcopy version of the oral history interview.

See also Robert L. Dennison Papers and Files.

RESTRICTIONS
These oral history transcripts may be read, quoted from, cited, and reproduced for purposes of research. They may not be published in full except by permission of the Harry S. Truman Library.

Abramson, Howard, 30
Acheson, Dean, 143, 144
Air Force, Department of, role of, 173-175
Anderson, Vernice, 150, 151, 162
Atomic bomb, use of, against Japan, 78-80
Atomic-bomb attack, plans for evacuation, 97-101

Begley, Paul, as photographer, 205, 206
Bohlen, Charles, 82, 83
Bradley, General Omar, 104-106, 154
Burke, Admiral Arleigh, 138-139


Cabinet meetings, 185-188
Carey, Idaho, and Presidential campaign of 1948, 44-46
Carlton Club, 84-85
Cates, General Clifton B., 132, 133, 134, 135
Chiang Kai-shek, 71-73, 75
Chiang Kai-shek, Madame, 72-73
China postwar, 71-76
Chungking, China, 71-73
Churchill, Winston, visit in 1952, 205-207
Civil rights, 190
Clifford, Clark, 180

as poker player, 95
Cochrane, Vice Admiral Edward L., appointment as first Federal Maritime Administrator, 35-41
Committee of Three, 11
Connelly, Matthew, 50
estimation of, 183-184, 185, 186
Containment policy, 128
Conway, Rose, 88

Denfeld, Admiral Louis E., resignation of, 140-142
Dennison, Admiral Robert L.:

appointment as Naval Aide to the President, 37-39
and auto accident, near Tokyo, 64-65
background of, 1-2
and China, People's Republic of, 128-130
duties as Naval Aide, 101-106, 183
and Eisenhower, General Dwight D., 157-158, 178
and Forrestal, James, 7-10, 11, 13, 14-15, 22-25
and Kennan, George, 124-127
and Landry, General Robert B., 179
MacArthur, General Douglas, attends ceremony honoring, 155-156
and maritime affairs, 33-35, 198-200
and Missouri, U.S.S., 3-6, 11, 189-190
and racial segregation, views on, 189-190, 192-193
and Rigdon, Commander William, 179-180
Truman, Harry S., first meeting with, 2-3
and staff assistants to Naval Aide, 182
and Vaughan, Harry, 175

Early, Stephen, and appointment as Under Secretary of Defense, 18, 19-20
Eisenhower, General Dwight D.:

and return from Europe in 1952, 156-158
and Truman, Harry S., at funeral of President John F.Kennedy, 207-211

Federal Maritime Administrator, appointment of first, 35-37
Forrestal, James V., 2, 3, 7-10, 11, 13, 14-15, 16, 17, 20-28, 186

and papers of, 23-28, 57, 61
Foskett, Rear Admiral James H., 41, 42
French Indo-China, U.S. aid to, 121-124


Gates, Artemus, 3, 72
Graham, Dr. Wallace, 89


Hiroshima, Japan, 63-34
Hydrogen bomb, decision to develop, 80-82

Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, 3-4

Japan, plans to invade, 78-79
Japan, postwar, 63-66
Johnson, Louis, 31, 120, 121, 167, 168, 171

and resignation, as Secretary of Defense136-140, 143, 146
and U.S.S. United States controversy, 107-110
and Veterans Administration hospitals controversy, 15, 17, 19, 28
Jones, Roger, 33

Kennan, George, 124-127
Key West, and "Little White House,", 53-55, 87-92
Korean conflict, entry of United States forces, 114-119

Landry, General Robert B., 40, 41, 179
Lovett, Robert, 146, 147

MacArthur, General Douglas, dismissal of, 150-151, 152-154
Maritime Administration', creation of, 34-37
Maritime Commission, and subsidy controversy, 33
Marshall, George C., 145

and motorcade incident, 165-166
Matthews, Francis P., 15, 139, 140, 141-143
Missouri, U.S.S., 3-4, 11
and racial segregation, 189-190, 192-193
Mitzzher, Admiral Marc, 138, 139

Nagasaki, Japan, 63-64
Navy, Secretaries of, rated by Robert L. Dennison, 16-17
Nimitz, Admiral Chester, 8-9, 11

Pauley, Edwin W., and nomination as Under Secretary of the Navy, 60-63, 72, 74
Peking, China, 66-71
Photograph, Harry S. Truman and Winston Churchill, aboard Williamsburg, 206-207
The Pope, Stalin’s comment on, at Potsdam, 82-83
Presidential campaign of 1948, June trip, 42-47

Racial segregation and the Navy, 188-190
Reid, Helen Ogden, 26, 27
Reparations, Chinese, from Japan, 72-75
"Revolt of the Admirals", 166-171
Rigdon, Commander William, 53, 179-180
Rio de Janeiro and Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, 3-4
Ross, Charles G., 40, 41
Rusk, Howard, 29

Shangri-La, 92-94, 100
State, War and Navy Coordinating Committee, 9
Stowe, David, 100, 182
Sullivan, John L., 10, 13, 17, 41, 57-58

resignation of, as Secretary of Navy, 107-109, 172-173
Symington, Stuart, as poker player, 95

Tito, Marshal Josip, 5-7
Transition between Truman and Eisenhower administrations, 197-198
Truman, Harry S.:

and Acheson, Dean, 144-145
assassination attempt, 163-164
Cabinet meetings, 185-188
candidacy for re-election in 1952, declines, 193-195
Carey, Idaho, speech in 1948, 44-46
China policy, 76-77
and Churchill, Winston, on visit in January 1952, 205-207
civil rights, 190-192
and Cochrane, Admiral Edward L., 36-37
decision-making, 188
and Dennison, Robert L., 47-48, 51-52, 55
education of, 48
and Eisenhower, Dwight D., 156-161, 207-211
estimation of, 212-214
ethics in politics, 203-205
and family values, 201-203
and Forrestal, James V., 22-24
gift of flags to children of Admiral Dennison, 201-203
and Holmes, Justice Oliver Wendell, 191-192
intellectual attributes of, 48-52
and Johnson, Louis, 29
MacArthur, General Douglas, dismissal of, 150-151, 152-154, 155-156
Marine Corps, reacts to controversy concerning “propaganda” of, 130-136
and Marshall, George C., 164-166
Missouri, U.S.S., aboard, in 1947, 4-6
and motorcade incident,164-166
and Naval Aide, duties of, 104-106
personality of, 103, 201-203
photographed, with Winston Churchill, aboard Williamsburg, 206-207
as poker player, 90-92, 94, 95-96
and Presidential campaign of 1948, predicts own election, 55, 86
and the Presidential role in nominating conventions, 196-197
and Presidential roles, 49-52
recreational interests, 94
speech endorsing, inadvertently, Republican congressional candidate in 1948, 46
and Tito, Marshal Josip, 5-7
and Twain, Mark, 191
and Veterans Administration hospitals controversy, 29-32
Wake Island conference, 148-150, 151, 162
and Wallace, Henry A., 59
and Williamsburg yacht, 89, 92, 94, 95, 96, 100
Truman, Mrs. Harry (Bess), 111-113
Trusteeship of former Japanese mandate, by United States, 13-14
Twain, Mark, 191

Unification of armed services, 17-19, 21, 167-175

Vardaman, Commander James K., 178-179
Vaughan, Harry H., 16, 31, 39, 53, 203-204

and controversy over Defense Aide position, 40-41
and role as Military Aide, 175-177
Veach, Mrs. John B., 111-112
Veterans Administration hospitals, controversy concerning, 29-32

Wake Island conference, 147, 148-150, 151, 162
Wallace, Henry A., and his Madison Square Garden speech in 1948, 57-59
Warren, Lindsay, 34-35
White House staff meetings, 181-182, 184
Williamsburg, 205-206
Winkler, Beriace L., 89

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