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By Root 1932 0

an interview the ninety-one-year-old McCloy gave to Henry Morgenthau III in 1986. But, as he notes, that is the sole piece of evidence that FDR was informed. Kai Bird, McCloy’s assiduous biographer, who was aware of the interview, states unequivocally that “there is no evidence Roosevelt was ever approached about the matter.” Michael Beschloss, The Conquerors: Roosevelt, Truman and the Destruction of Hitler’s Germany, 1941–1945 64–67 (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2002). Cf., Kai Bird, The Chairman 212–223. Also see Robert N. Rosen, Saving the Jews 385–406.

60. Alan Dershowitz, “Afterword,” in Robert N. Rosen, Saving the Jews: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Holocaust 499–502.

61. Eisenhower’s view was consistent and absolute. “I shall need not only the cooperation of your forces, but still more the assistance of your officials and the moral support of the French people,” he told de Gaulle on December 30, 1943. “I can assure you that as far as I am concerned and regardless of whatever apparent attitudes are imposed upon me, I will recognize no French power in France other than your own in the practical sphere.” (Eisenhower served on Pershing’s Battle Monuments Commission in 1928–29 and resided near Pont-Mirabeau on the right bank of the Seine.) Charles de Gaulle, 3 The War Memoirs of Charles de Gaulle 241 (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1959). Also see Dwight D. Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe 272–273 (New York: Doubleday, 1948); David Eisenhower, Eisenhower at War: 1943–1945 230–248 (New York: Random House, 1986); Stephen E. Ambrose, The Supreme Commander 377–388 (New York: Doubleday, 1970).

62. WSC to FDR, May 26, 1944, 3 Churchill and Roosevelt: The Complete Correspondence 145, Warren F. Kimball, ed. (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1984).

63. Lord Halifax, Britain’s ambassador in Washington, told Anthony Eden on the eve of D-Day that Leahy had advised the president that only Pétain could help the Allies in the liberation of France. This Halifax learned from John McCloy. Simon Berthon, Allies at War 298 (London: HarperCollins, 2002). Also see Conrad Black, Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Champion of Freedom 963–964. Lord Black’s critique of Leahy leaves little unresolved.

64. FDR to Eisenhower, May 13, 1944, FDRL. Quoted in Forrest C. Pogue, The Supreme Command 148 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1954).

65. de Gaulle, 3 War Memoirs 240.

66. Pogue, Supreme Command 148–149. Also see de Gaulle, 3 War Memoirs 254–256.

67. De Gaulle spoke with his customary elegance: “The supreme battle has been joined. For the sons of France, wherever they are, whatever they are, the simple and sacred duty is to fight the enemy by every means in their power.… The orders given by the French Government [de Gaulle’s provisional regime] and its leaders must be followed precisely.… From behind the cloud so heavy with our blood and our tears, the sun of our greatness is now reappearing.” de Gaulle, 3 War Memoirs 256.

68. Alexander Cadogan, The Cadogan Diaries, 1938–1945 634–635, David Dilks, ed. (New York: Putnam, 1972). Entry of June 5, 1944.

69. The assumption of political responsibility in France by de Gaulle and the FCNL is handled adroitly by G. E. Maguire in Anglo-American Policy Towards the Free French 132–139 (London: Macmillan, 1995).

70. On June 13, 1944, six days after D-Day, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Marshall, King, and Arnold) advised Roosevelt that for military reasons alone it was essential to recognize de Gaulle. “The situation is serious and the effect on military operations unhappy at best, and may be dangerous in view of possible reactions of the French underground and resistance groups, who have generally expressed their allegiance to General de Gaulle.” JCS to FDR, June 13, 1944, FDRL.

71. de Gaulle, 3 War Memoirs 267–268.

72. Ibid. 269–270.

73. Claude Fohlen, “De Gaulle and Franklin D. Roosevelt,” in FDR and His Contemporaries 39, Cornelius A. van Minnen and John E. Sears, eds. (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1992).

74. Quoted in Morgan, FDR: A Biography 724.

75. Maguire, Anglo-American