The Secretary of State to the President
Washington, November 23, 1943
Secret
For the President from Secretary Hull:
Lisbon reports that an interview with Salazar regarding Azores facilities has been fixed for November 23, 1943, 5:00 p.m. The British Ambassador has received instructions to support approach to Portuguese. The Chargé plans to ask Salazar to confirm that Portuguese Government does not object to use by American forces of Horta and Terceira facilities or to participation by United States engineering units in improvement of these facilities. The Chargé intends at the same interview, informally to sound out Salazar regarding desire United States Army and Navy for the further facilities required.
CH
President Roosevelt’s log of the trip
Tuesday, November 23 (at Cairo)
| During the forenoon the following persons called on the President: Mr. A. Y. Vyshinsky, First Assistant Commissar for Foreign Affairs, USSR. Mr. Vyshinsky was accompanied by Mr. Charles E. Bohlen of our State Department; Admiral Mountbatten; General Wheeler; General Wedemeyer; The Prime Minister and his daughter, Mrs. Sarah Oliver; the Generalissimo and Madame Chiang Kai-shek; Generals Shang Chen, Ling [Lin] Wei and Chu Shih Ming. Ambassadors Kirk and Harriman called at the President’s villa during the forenoon. | |
| 11:00 a.m. | First plenary meeting of the President, the Prime Minister and the Generalissimo with their respective military and naval staffs and other delegates. Those present for this meeting were the same as for the preliminary meeting held at 9:00 p.m., Monday, November 22. |
| 1:30 p.m. | The President lunched at his villa with the Prime Minister, Mrs. Oliver, Mr. Hopkins, Commander C. R. Thompson, EH [N. (The Prime Minister’s Naval Aide), and Mr. J. F. [M] Martin (The Prime Minister’s Secretary). |
| 3:15 p.m. | The President, together with Lieutenant (jg.) Rigdon, worked on his mail from 3:15 until 4:10 p.m., signing the following Congressional bills: HE No. 244, 273, 400, 560, 800, 1049, 1144, 1202, 1206, 1435, 1498, 1555, 1622, 1666, 1769, 1887, 1889, 1918, 1920, 2182, 2244, 2600, 2675, 2824, 2905, 2915, and 3331. |
| 4:15 p.m. | With the Prime Minister acting as host, the President, the Prime Minister, Mrs. Oliver, Admiral Brown, Admiral McIntire and General Watson left the President’s villa for an automobile trip to the nearby Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx. At the Pyramids one of the native guides, who was found by chance at that late hour, was called in to give details of the history of the Pyramids that some members of the party were not familiar with. The visit to the Pyramids was made just at sunset, so that the party had the experience of seeing the sun dip behind the Pyramids, the afterglow, and the dust [dusk?] succeeding the sun. |
| 5:15 p.m. | The President, the Prime Minister and members of their party returned to the President’s villa at 5:15 p.m. Colonel Elliott Roosevelt arrived in Cairo this afternoon from his headquarters at Tunis. He was quartered in the President’s villa while in Cairo. |
| 8:00 p.m. | Dinner at the President’s villa. The dinner list included the President, the Generalissimo and Madame Chiang Kai-shek, Mr. Hopkins and Colonel Elliott Roosevelt. The Generalissimo and Madame Chiang Kai-shek remained after dinner until 11:00 p.m. conversing with the President and Mr. Hopkins. |
| A radiogram was received quite late this evening from Moscow informing the President that Marshal Stalin would be at Tehran on November 28 or the 29th. As this was a bit sooner than had been expected, immediate steps were taken to complete the details of our journey to Tehran. |