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{
    "localId": "294550188",
    "label": "Memorandum from Secretary of State Dean Acheson to President Harry S. Truman",
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{
    "id": "294550188",
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    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "Memorandum from Secretary of State Dean Acheson to President Harry S. Truman",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/294550188",
    "collections": [
        "President's Secretary's Files (Truman Administration)",
        "Subject Files"
    ],
    "subjects": [
        "Roosevelt, Eleanor, 1884-1962"
    ],
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    "productionDates": [
        {
            "day": 9,
            "logicalDate": "1952-04-09",
            "month": 4,
            "year": 1952
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    "seq": 2,
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    "ocrText": "SECRET SECURITY INFORMATION\n-2-\nshall simply state that we think that this is not the proper time to\nraise the matter in the Council and we will reassess the situation\nif at any time the subject should again be presented for Security\nCouncil consideration. We do not condone acts of violence by either\nside.\nMeanwhile, although for obvious reasons we would not wish\nfor this to be known, we are applying great pressure in Paris, to\ninduce the French to carry through a serious program of reform\nlooking towards Tunisian self-government. Tunisia is of vital\nimportance to the French because the loss of any part of North\nAfrica would shake France's position as a Great Power. It might\nalso endanger our strategic position in the North African area.\nOur own national security demands that we do everything humanly\npossible to avoid exacerbating our relations with the French, while\nat the same time seeking to persuade them that in their long-run\ninterest they must satisfy legitimate claims made by the Tunisians.\nOur position in the Security Council is based on considerations\nof timing and is not a compromise of principle. We think that Security\nCouncil consideration now might hinder negotiations, and would make\nit more difficult for both sides to take a moderate position. We have\nmade it clear to the French that, should the prospect of negotiations\non their reform program prove illusory, we will very likely revise\nour position in the Security Council.\nI may say that this is one of the most difficult decisions I have\nhad to make in the Department of State. I made it only after the\nmost exhaustive consideration of all the factors involved.\nCream Gehrom\nHARRY S. TRUMAN LIBRARY\nSECRET SECURITY INFORMATION"
}