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214916478
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Letter from William L. Batt, Jr. to Clark Clifford
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document
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1
Source metadata
id
214916478
contentType
document
title
Letter from William L. Batt, Jr. to Clark Clifford
citationUrl
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Clark M. Clifford Papers
Subject Files
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Berlin Blockade, 1948-1949
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214916478
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day
9
logicalDate
1948-08-09
month
8
year
1948
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nara-archive
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1
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photo
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c810735db5b53c7e
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DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE
1367 CONNECTICUT AVENUE N.W.
WASHINGTON 6, D. C.
WILLIAM L. BATT, JR., DIRECTOR
RESEARCH DIVISION
August 9, 1948
MEMORANDUM TO Mr. Clark M. Clifford
Subject: Moscow Negotiations
If the pending negotiations between the Western Powers and the
Soviet Union should lead to a satisfactory settlement of the major
issues, particularly with regard to the situation in Berlin, it seems
desirable to underscore this success of our foreign policy as emphat-
ically as possible.
The most dramatic method of doing this would be for the President
of the United States to go on the air to make, himself, the first announce-
ment to the American people.
There is ample precedent for this way of handling decisive turns
in the international situation from the last World War. The last time
President Truman went on the air with this kind of announcement was on
the day of the Japanese surrender in August, 1945.
Great care would have to be exercised in timing the President's
announcement to coincide with those of Great Britain, France and the
Soviet Union in order to protect the United States against being
scooped by another government. Besides inflation and housing, the fear
of war is unquestionably the major concern of the American people at
this time. If the President were in a position to lift this fear from
their minds it would go a long way towards enhancing his prestige as
the responsible leader of our foreign policy,
TRUNAN
Bill
AND
SERVICE
William L. Batt, Jr.
WLB:jfw
28