Letter from Senator Arthur Vandenberg to Secretary of State Dean Acheson, with Related Material

ti COM CONNALLY, TEX., CHAIRMAN WALTER F. GEORGE, GA. ARTHUR H. VANDENBERG, MICH. ELBERT D. THOMAS, UTAH ALEXANDER WILEY, wis. MILLARD E. TYDINGS, MD. H. ALEXANDER SMITH, N. J. CLAUDE PEPPER, FLA. BOURKE B. HIGKENLOOPER, IOWA THEODORE FRANCIS GREEN, R. 1. HENRY CABOT LODGE, JR., MASS. BRIEN MC MAHON, CONN. J. w. FULBRIGHT, ARK. States Senate FRANCIS o. WILCOX, CHIEF OF STAFF 127 COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS 97-a ARCHIVES AMD *MATIONAL RECORDS March 29, 1950 PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL Honorable Dean Acheson ask D a 4/10 Secretary of State act Washington, D. C. My dear Mr. Secretary: I am afraid I shall not be able to see you personally until the end of the week. My brief sortie back to the firing line last weekend was evidently a little too much for me. I am afraid this is a lesson for all of us. I very much doubt whether I can be of any serious use in the Senate in respect to foreign policy the rest of this session - although you are quite welcome at any time to submit any problem to me upon which perhaps I could be incidentally helpful. At any rate, regardless of the consequences - I am glad I did what I did and I am glad that you and the President liked it. We disagree at many points but never in respect to the final unity which will always be the major source of our national security. I am able to report to you in a preliminary way in respect to my reaction to your second question - regarding the selection of a distinguished Republican to become a roving Ambassador in Japan and the Far East. I have consulted - on a completely confidential basis - with Senator Knowland on the subject, feeling that his viewpoint would be a safe test of any critical Republican attitudes in this area. My judgment is as follows. Governor Warren would be a superb choice but he is undoubtedly unavailable because of his campaign for re-election as Governor of California. I am told upon reliable authority that Mayor Lapham (of whom I am immensely fond) is openly advocating the recognition of Communist China. If this is true I should say it would make him entirely ineligible for any such assignment as you have in mind. President Robert G. Sproul of the University of California is excellent by every test and I am sure would be entirely satisfactory. If he proves to be unavailable, I suggest one additional name, with Senator Knowland's enthusiastic approval. I am referring to David T. Barrows of Berkeley, California, who preceded President Sproul at the University of California. He is an older man; but I am told that he is in full possession of all his vigorous capacities. In the course of his career he has rendered considerable public service in the Far East, with particular reference to the Philippines and Siberia. He has also been associated, during the war, with the office of the Secretary of War. He is a distinguished Republican - although never particularly active in politics.