Memorandum of Conversation with Secretary of State Dean Acheson, President Harry S. Truman, and Foreign Minister of Ireland Sean McBride

6290 DEPARTMENT OF STATE 409 SECRET M.A. Memorandum of Conversation 78 DATE: March 23, 1951 to RECOROS SUBJECT: corf The President PARTICIPANTS: The Foreign Minister of Ireland, Mr. Sean McBride ARCHIVES NATIONAL RECORDS AND Secretary Acheson . SERVICE* COPIES TO: The white House lxx. Porkins Mr. McFall s/S-R File 1-1493 The President received Mr. McBride at the latter's request. The Secretary of State was present. Mr. McBride opened the interview by saying that in the struggle with Communism he thought there were three major fields - the economic, the military and the moral or spiritual field. He thought that progress had been made in the first two. He did not think that we had as yet been able to state to the people of the free world in simple language what the whole conception of democracy meant. He recalled the great appeal which President Wilson's Fourteen Points had made throughout the world and thought that a statement in this general form and manner was very necessary. He felt that this could only come from the United States and he hoped that the President would address himself to this problem. The President said that he had been endeavoring for many years to put forward his conceptions of what the democratic ideal and mission in the world was. He under- stood what the Irish Foreign Minister had in mind,was quite aware that his speeches had not achieved this particular objective and stressed the great difficulty of achieving it. DECLASSIFIED Occ. (D) and 5.12.26 SECRET Dept. of State letter, Aug. By NLT- He NARS Date 6.24.76