[an error occurred while processing this directive]

The Berlin Airlift: Opinions and Letters Regarding Berlin Crisis Folder

Below are descriptions of the documents held in the Opinions and Letters Regarding Berlin Crisis Folder. Hyperlinks will lead you to the actual document, and indicates how many pages that particular item is.

  1. Letter, dated September 12, 1948, by Philip Johnston to President Harry S. Truman, charging that the Berlin Crisis is, "an outgrowth of your own incredible stupidity." The letter, from the Official File, has an attached Lost Angeles Times article, dated September 12, 1948, and titled "West Can Pull Out of Berlin Proudly."(2 pages)
  2. Letter, dated September 28, 1948, by U.S. Air Force Colonel R.B. Landry to Presidential secretary Matthew J. Connelly. In the letter, from the Official File, Landry writes that he saw nothing on his trip to Berlin worth immediately reporting to President Harry S. Truman. (1 page)
  3. Statement, dated October 9, 1948, by President Harry S. Truman following General Marshall's return from Paris. The statement relates in general terms the tenor of Marshall's report to him on progress in the United Nations concerning the Berlin Crisis. (3 pages)
  4. Three memoranda, dated October 13, 1948, October 21, 1948, and November 4, 1948, and a letter dated November 10, 1948. The first memorandum mentions that President Harry S. Truman was notified in writing of a Washington Daily News article critical of Truman for not sending Chief Justice Fred Vinson to Russia to help resolve the Berlin Crisis. The second memorandum recaps a number of events related to the situation in Berlin, including authorization for additional "C-54 type" aircraft to be used as part of the Berlin Airlift. The third memorandum relates to a congratulatory telegram from M.L. Dahanukar, Sheriff of Bombay, India, to President Harry S. Truman on his election victory. The final document, a letter from Joseph C. Lewis to Truman, suggests that Truman name General Douglas MacArthur as his on-the-ground representative in Germany to handle the Berlin Crisis. (4 pages)
  5. Telegram, dated November 13, 1948, by U.N. General Assembly President Herbert V. Evatt to President Harry S. Truman. The telegram, from the Official File, notifies Truman that that Evatt and the United Nations Secretary General are giving the chairman of the U.S. delegation a communication for Truman. The communication urges the President to implement a U.N. General Assembly resolution appealing to France, Britain, the US, and USSR to renew their efforts to resolve the Berlin Crisis. (1 page)
  6. Letter, dated December 4, 1948, by Arthur B. Baer to President Harry S. Truman, suggesting that the Berlin situation be reconciled under the auspices of the United Nations. Baer suggests that the U.N. withdraw the US and USSR from Germany and bring in several smaller nations to govern it. The letter, from the Official File, has an attached December 17, 1948 thank you note from Presidential Secretary William D. Hassett to Baer. (2 pages)
  7. Translation of a document, dated May 14, 1949, by Argentine Foreign Affairs Minister Juan Atilio Bramuglia to President Harry S. Truman, thanking Truman for crediting Bramuglia for his actions at the United Nations Security Council and congratuling Truman for resolution of the Berlin Crisis. The document, from the Official File, includes the original, untranslated version of the letter.(3 pages)
  8. Telegram, dated October 27, 1948, by Congressman Preston E. Peden to President Harry S. Truman, urging Truman to act in removing the Berlin blockade and sending supplies into occupied Berlin. (1 page)
  9. Telegram, dated November 17, 1948, by J. Frank, et. al to President Harry S. Truman (1 page)
  10. Telegram, dated June 25, 1948, by Alfred M. Bingham, et. al. to President Harry S. Truman, urging Truman to declare that short of war the U.S. will remain in Berlin and maintain supplies for the German people (2 pages)
  11. Letter, dated July 26, 1948, by Matthew J. Connelly, Secretary to President Harry S. Truman to the mayor of Toledo, Ohio, Michael V. Disalle. Attached is also Disalle's July 17, 1948 telegram to President Truman proposing that the Red Cross be invited, through the United Nations, to aid the people of Berlin. Additional documents relating to the Disalle/Truman correspondence are included. (8 pages)
  12. Letters and memoranda, from July 21, 1948 through October 22, 1948. (7 pages)
  13. 1) The first, dated July 21, 1948, refers to the Secretary of the Army a resolution by the Greater Miami Aviation Association.

    2) The second, a telegram dated September 6, 1948 from R.C. Jefferis to President Harry S. Truman, suggests that the United States might use tear gas and other means to quell rioting in Berlin.

    3 & 4) The fourth document, a June 30, 1948, letter from Matthew Woll, Chairman of the International Labor Relations Department, Free Trade Union Committee, American Federation of Labor, to Truman, urges Truman to strengthen the U.S. stand at Berlin. A July 2, 1948 reply from Truman thanks Woll for his letter.

    5 & 6) The sixth document, an October 13, 1948 letter from C.E. Scott, President of the Long Beach (Calif.) Chamber of Commerce to President Harry S. Truman, recommends that the United States stand up to the USSR over Berlin while at the same time using all diplomatic means to resolve the crisis. An October 22, 1948 reply from Presidential Secretary Matthew J. Connelly thanks Scott for his letter.

  14. Telegram, dated August 18, 1948, by A K Wright to President Harry S. Truman, blaming George C. Marshall for the state of US/USSR relations and recommending that France, Britain, the US and the USSR negotiate a solution to the Berlin Crisis. The telegram, from the Official File, also suggests that the US should maintain a presence in Berlin until an agreement can be negotiated.(2 pages)
  15. Letter, dated September 11, 1948, by Socialist Party presidential candidate Norman Thomas to President Harry S. Truman, notifying Truman of a pending speech, in which Thomas says that he will propose that the US government put before the United Nations General Assembly the actions, in Berlin and elsewhere, by which the USSR menaces peace in the world. (4 pages)

  16. Telegram, dated September 27, 1948, by Richard Minasian to President Harry S. Truman, asking Truman to clarify the magnitude of the crisis in Berlin. (1 page)

Return to The Berlin Airlift
[an error occurred while processing this directive]