Roosevelt conversations with various callers, afternoon
The following foreign persons called on the President:
EGYPTIAN: Cabinet Chief Hassanayn and Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Nahas.
GREEK: King George II, Prince Paul, and Prime Minister Tsouderos.
BRITISH: Ambassador to Egypt Killearn, Generals Wilson and Stone, Admiral Willis, and Air Chief Marshal Douglas.
YUGOSLAV: King Peter II and Prime Minister Purić.
The President also had brief talks on the same afternoon with Turkish Prime Minister Saraçoğlu, British Ambassador to Turkey Knatchbull-Hugessen, and Egyptian heir apparent Mohammad Ali.
The calls were apparently of brief duration and were primarily of a courtesy nature. There was possible discussion of a trusteeship for Indochina with the Turks and the Egyptians in the course of this trip. In the President’s conversation with King Peter, the subjects discussed included the reconciling of Commander Tito and General Mihailović, the advisability of Allied landings on the Dalmatian or the French coast and the development of a joint Allied offensive against Germany on a fixed date.
President Roosevelt’s log of the trip
Wednesday, November 24 (at Cairo)
| Callers at the President’s villa during the forenoon included Ambassadors Kirk and Harriman and Major Otis Bryan, USA. | |
| 11:00 a.m. | The President held a conference with General Marshall, Admiral Leahy, Admiral King, General Arnold, Lt-General Somervell, Captain Royal, Air Chief Marshal Portal, Admiral Cunningham, the Prime Minister, General Sir Alan Brooke, Field Marshal Sir John Dill, Lt-General Ismay, General Laycock, Brigadier Hollis and Mr. Hopkins. This conference adjourned at 12:40 p.m. |
| Major John Boettiger, USA, joined the President’s party this morning. Major Boettiger is on duty with the Fifth Army in Italy (with the Allied Military Government organization.) | |
| p.m. | During the afternoon the President kept appointments with the following personages at his villa: Sir Ahmad Mohammed Hassenein Pacha, Chief of the Egyptian Royal Cabinet; His Excellency Moustafa El-Nahas Pacha, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Royal Egyptian Cabinet. (NOTE: King Farouk I had recently been injured in an automobile accident and was unable to call on the President during the time he was in Cairo.); His Majesty King George II of the Hellenes (Greece); His Excellency Mr. Emmanuel Tsouderos, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs (Greece); Lord Killearn, British Ambassador to Egypt; His Majesty King Peter of Yugoslavia; His Excellency Dr. Božidar Pouritch, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs (Yugoslavia); His Royal Highness Prince Paul, Crown Prince of Greece; General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson, Commander-in-Chief British Forces in the Middle East. General Wilson was accompanied by General Royce; Air Chief Marshal Sir Sholto Douglas, Officer Commanding Royal Air Force in the Middle East; Admiral Sir Algernon Willis, Commander-in-Chief, Levant; General R. G. W. Stone, Commander-in-Chief, British troops in Egypt. (The above are listed in the order in which they called.) |
| 5:15 p.m. | Ambassador Steinhardt, accompanied by Mr. George Allen, called on the President. Ambassador Steinhardt and Mr. Allen had just arrived in Cairo from Ankara, Turkey. |
| 8:30 p.m. | President had dinner at his villa. His guests included Ambassador Harriman, Mr. Hopkins, Admiral Leahy, Admiral Brown, Admiral McIntire, and General Watson. The guests remained after dinner until 12:40 a.m., chatting and playing cards. |