Letter from Ambassador George Messersmith to President Harry S. Truman, with Attachment

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THE FOREIGN SERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AMERICAN EMBASSY Buenos Aires, Argentina, October 23, 1946 My dear Mr. President: I appreciate very much your taking the trouble to write me under date of September 6 that you have read with interest my letter of August 16 and a copy of my letter to Secretary Byrnes. You state that you have also received a copy of Dean Acheson's letter to me of August 29, which leads you to believe that the situation is not as serious as I seem to think--at least you hope it is not. I naturally appreciated Dean's letter of August 29 to which you refer and which was in reply to a letter from me to him dated August 16. I did not reply to Dean's letter for several weeks as I understood he was taking a rest, which I am sure he very much needed. I wrote him, however, under date of October 16 replying to his letter of August 29. You will note from my let- ter to Dean of October 16, of which I enclose a copy, that unfortunately I consider the situation more serious if anything than I had expressed in my letter of August 16 to him. I would appreciate very much if you would read the appended letter of October 16 to Dean or have some- one give you the substance thereof, as it is necessary to an understanding of the situation. I am naturally becoming deeply distressed to have to write in this way about an officer of the Department and about someone 3. NATIONAL The President, The White House, Washington.