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DEAN ALFANGE
NINE EAST 40TH STREET
NEW YORK
PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL
May 5, 1948
Major General Harry H. Vaughan
White House
Washington, D. C.
Dear General Vaughan:
I am sending you this confidential letter because I
am interested in the President's political fortunes.
Frankly, the President could not carry the State of
New York in the present circumstances. The Jewish
vote against him would be overwhelming.
Only a dramatic move on the President's part that
would electrify the Jewish people could change the
situation.
Such a move might well be the recognition of the
Jewish State which will come into being on May 16,
and the nomination of an American Minister to the
new State. The President would be on firm legal
ground in this respect because the UN decision which
partitioned Palestine into Jewish and Arab states
is still a legal fact. True, our government has
proposed a temporary Trusteeship in place of immediate
partition, presumably because the UN decision could
not be carried out without bloodshed. However,
recent events have knocked the props from under the
Trusteeship proposal. The Trusteeship proposal is
no longer tenable, not because neither side accepts
it, but because the Jewish military forces have since
demonstrated by their decisive victories over the
Arabs, that they can implement partition singlehanded.
The President, therefore, can logically take the
position that events and not he have reversed the
Trusteeship plan and that the UN decision can be
best carried out by recognizing the new Jewish State
and according it the privileges of other states, in-
cluding the fundamental right to defend itself. This
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"ocrText": "DEAN ALFANGE\nNINE EAST 40TH STREET\nNEW YORK\nPERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL\nMay 5, 1948\nMajor General Harry H. Vaughan\nWhite House\nWashington, D. C.\nDear General Vaughan:\nI am sending you this confidential letter because I\nam interested in the President's political fortunes.\nFrankly, the President could not carry the State of\nNew York in the present circumstances. The Jewish\nvote against him would be overwhelming.\nOnly a dramatic move on the President's part that\nwould electrify the Jewish people could change the\nsituation.\nSuch a move might well be the recognition of the\nJewish State which will come into being on May 16,\nand the nomination of an American Minister to the\nnew State. The President would be on firm legal\nground in this respect because the UN decision which\npartitioned Palestine into Jewish and Arab states\nis still a legal fact. True, our government has\nproposed a temporary Trusteeship in place of immediate\npartition, presumably because the UN decision could\nnot be carried out without bloodshed. However,\nrecent events have knocked the props from under the\nTrusteeship proposal. The Trusteeship proposal is\nno longer tenable, not because neither side accepts\nit, but because the Jewish military forces have since\ndemonstrated by their decisive victories over the\nArabs, that they can implement partition singlehanded.\nThe President, therefore, can logically take the\nposition that events and not he have reversed the\nTrusteeship plan and that the UN decision can be\nbest carried out by recognizing the new Jewish State\nand according it the privileges of other states, in-\ncluding the fundamental right to defend itself. This"
}