Letter from Eleanor Roosevelt to Harry S. Truman

VAL-KILL COTTAGES HYDE PARK, DUTCHESS COUNTY NEW YORK June 1, 1946 Dear Mr. President: I read in the papers this morning that Mr. Stettinius's resignation has really come in and that you and Secretary Byrnes hope he will reconsider. I am wondering just what his reasons are, but in any case, I feel there 18 no one who has had his long experience, nor been as devoted to the ideal of the United Nations, and if it is possible for you and Secretary Byrnes to get him to continue, I think it will keep a great many of us from feeling that the cause is a lost cause. I can not help feeling that we need to be firm but we haven't always been firm in the right way in our foreign policy because one can only be successfully firm, if the people one is firm with, particularly the Russians, have complete confidence in one's integrity and I am not sure that our attitude on questions like Spain and the Argentine and even in Germany itself, has been conducive to creating a feeling that we would always keep our word and that we would Time always talk things out absolutely sincerely before we took action. We are bound to differ, of course, because & we have fundamental differences, but I think these should be made clear, If at the top there was a complete sense of confidence and security and the policies at the top were really carried on at every leveltings might go letter. Very cordially yours, Thanks Procewers