While the Soviets are pretty much carving up the Kwantung Army, and their forces are large, Manchuria is huge. And the transportation/communication structure along the Soviet-Manchurian border isn’t very well developed.
Most of the Soviet effort is being expended in seizing Manchuria. Korea was a sideshow, to which they only devoted the limited spare change of their operation. While they penetrated into the Korean peninsula, they didn’t have the ability to take the whole thing. Not immediately, anyway.
The 38th parallel was agreed upon at the time of Japan’s surrender as an occupation dividing line. The Soviets didn’t mind, as they were busy occupying Manchuria, which is what they really wanted above all. And they were bringing the commisssars with them, just as they had done in Eastern Europe.
President Harry Truman
Aug. 10 ‘45
Up at six and ready for business. Saw Snyder, Ross, Rosemann, Connelly, Vaughan, Hassett, Vardaman, Ayers at the usual 9 A.M. conference. Nothing unusual to discuss.
Snyder had met me at Norfolk on Tuesday evening when we returned from Berlin and had discussed certain bad situations developing between War Pro. Bd. [War Production Board] and Of. Pr. Adm. [Office of Price Administration] At 9:30 got Krug in and gave him a job on reconversion, making the W.P.B. the Reconversion Board and then called in Bowles and made peace between them.
At 10:15 had the scientists, Bush and Conant and Geo. L. Harrison, Gen. Groves, Secs. State, War and Navy in to discuss the Atomic Bomb and how much could be published about it. A very interesting meeting. Ordered a press release for Sunday, covering its main features because so many fake scientists were telling crazy tales about it.
Senator Tom Connolly came in to urge the appointment of his friend as a Federal Judge for one of the Texas Districts and to give me his opinion of Pappy O’Daniel. He considers Pappy rather small potatoes. Tom was also interested in a hospital at Marlin to be built by the Navy. He called me later in the week to tell me I was making a mistake in appointing Dugout Doug as Allied Commander in Chief to accept the Jap. surrender. Said Doug would run against me in 1948 if I built him up. I told Tom I didn’t want to run in ‘48 and that Doug didn’t bother me that way.
Barkley tells a story about Tom Heflin running for re-election to Congress in an Alabama District when he and Barkley were in the House of Representatives. Barkley said the House was having a night session on the last day for filing in Heflin’s District and that about 11:30 old Tom began calling his secretary at Montgomery to see if a certain man in his district had filed against him. He’d call about every ten minutes and the conversation at Tom’s end would go something like this. “Hello: is that you Jim? Did he file? You say he did or he didn’t? Oh! He hasn’t filed yet. Goodbye.”
At one minute after midnight the same conversation took place and Tom was finally assured by his secretary that the other fellow had not filed. Tom had carried on his conversation in the cloak room and a dozen members had heard each phone conversation. After the last one at 12:01 when old Tom was sure his supposed opponent had not filed and couldn’t file, he turned around to his audience and said “I wish the so and so had filed-I’d have beaten hell out of him!
Sen. Denis Chavez came in to recommend a Maj. Gen. in the Marine Corps for Gov. of Puerto Rico and to make a date for a committee of Italians to see me to talk about Italy. I succeeded in getting him to cut the number to one and I agreed to see Dennis and the one on Monday.
Monday Friday, Aug 10th
Cong. Mike Mansfield came in to ask for a trip to China. He was once a resident over there and seems to know a great deal about the country. I postponed decision on it. Sen. Hayden of Ariz. came in and gave me some excellent and practical ideas on the Philippines and their recovery from the war. Col. Heller & Mr. Hurley came in to resign from the Surplus Property Board and I persuaded them to stay.
Sen. Magnuson talked to me about a road to Alaska through British Columbia and his bill on scientific research. Had a nice visit.
Sen. O’Mahoney made a recommendation of a man for District of Columbia Court of Appeals and told me how to run the country generally.
Various Ambassadors & a Minister presented credentials and then the Sec. Labor came in. We reorganized and set up a real Labor Department and that’s what we intend to do. Schwellenbach is a real guy and will make me a wheel horse on the team.
Minton came to see me about an appointment to the Supreme Court.
Ate lunch at my desk and discussed the Jap offer to surrender which came in a couple of hours earlier. They wanted to make a condition precedent to the surrender. Our terms are “unconditional.” They wanted to keep the Emperor we told ‘em we’d tell ‘em how to keep him, but we’d make the terms.
Had a Cabinet meeting after lunch which was a very satisfactory one. Getting a team together. Took them into my confidence and told them all about the Jap situation. They kept the confidence! An unprecedented thing in the immediate past.
While all this has been going on, I’ve been trying to get ready a radio address to the nation on the Berlin conference. Made the first draft on the ship coming back. Discussed it with Byrnes, Rosenman, Ben Cohen, Leahy and Charlie Ross. Rewrote it four times and then the Japs offered to surrender and it had to be done again. As first put up it contained 4500 words and a thousand had to be taken out. It caused me a week of headaches but finally seemed to go over all right when it was said over the radio at 10 P.M. tonight.