Letter from President Harry S. Truman to General George C. Marshall, with Attachments
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OCR Page 1 of 16General of the Armies
George C. Marshall
Special Representative of the President
(with the personal rank of Ambassador).
My dear General Marshall:
On the eve of your departure for China I want to
repeat to you my appreciation of your willingness to
undertake this difficult mission.
I have the utmost confidence in your ability to
handle the task before you but, to guide you in so far
as you may find it helpful, I will give you some of
the thoughts, ideas, and objectives which Secretary
Byrnes and I have in mind with regard to your mission.
I attach several documents which I desire should
be considered as part of this letter. One is a state-
ment of U.S. policy towards China which was, I under-
stand, prepared after consultation with you and with
officials of the Department. The second is a memorandum
from the Secretary of State to the War Department in
regard to China. And the third is a copy of my press
release on policy in China. I understand that these
documents have been shown to you and received your
approval.
The fact that I have asked you to go to China is
the clearest evidence of my very real concern with
regard to the situation there. Secretary Byrnes and
I are both anxious that the unification of China by
peaceful, democratic methods be achieved as soon as
possible. It is my desire that you, as my Special
Representative, bring to bear in an appropriate and
practicable manner the influence of the United States
to this end.
Specifically, I desire that you endeavor to per-
suade the Chinese Government to call a national confer-
ence of representatives of the major political elements
to bring about the unification of China and, concurrently,
to effect a cessation of hostilities, particularly in
north China.
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