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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 November 2021
Forgive me writing to you after an interval of what I think must be forty-five years. Let me explain why I am writing. In the process of tidying up my room in the Marshall library, I found a diary of the Bretton Woods Conference. It was a typescript copy on foolscap paper. It was fascinating. It was obviously written by someone very much more alive and intelligent than the ordinary Treasury civil servant. By a process of elimination, I arrived at you as the almost certain author. I sent it to Donald Moggridge, who has edited the Bretton Woods volume in our Collected Writings of John Maynard Keynes. He confirmed that it was not among the Keynes papers in the King's College archive.
1 Edward Austin Gossage Robinson (1897–1993): economist; educated at Christ's College, Cambridge; fellow of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, 1931; professor of Economics, University of Cambridge, 1950–1965; assistant editor, Economic Journal, 1934–1944; editor, Economic Journal, 1944–1970; adviser to the War Cabinet and to the Board of Trade; close associate of Keynes on Economic Journal; managing editor (with Donald Moggridge) of the Collected Writings of John Maynard Keynes, 30 vols (London, 1971–1989).
2 John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946): economist and government adviser; educated at King's College, Cambridge; India Office, 1908; Treasury, 1915–1919; unpaid adviser, Treasury, 1940–1946; fellow of King's College, Cambridge, 1909–1946; editor of Economic Journal, 1912–1944; Baron Keynes, 1942.
3 Edmund Leo Hall-Patch (1896–1975): civil servant; assistant secretary, Treasury, 1935–1944; assistant under secretary of state, Foreign Office, 1944; deputy under-secretary of state, Foreign Office, 1946–1948; head of British Delegation, Organisation for European Economic Co-Operation (OEEC, later OECD), 1948–1952.
4 Sir Shelton Thomas, governor of Singapore, 1934–1942.
5 Sir Arthur Percivale, general officer commanding (Malaya), August 1941–February 1942.
6 Alfred Duff Cooper (1890–1954): politician, diplomat and writer; educated at New College, Oxford; Foreign Office, 1913–1914; Conservative MP for Oldham, 1924–1929, Westminster St George's, 1931–1945; secretary of state for war, 1935–1938, resigned over Munich agreement of September 1938; minister of information, 1940; minister resident, Singapore, 1941–1942; ambassador to France, 1944–1947. Harmer was referring to Cooper's time in Singapore and excusing him from blame for the surrender to the Japanese in February 1942.
7 Chiang Kai-shek (1887–1975): Chinese soldier and politician; joined Nationalist Party (also known as Kuomintang), 1918; commander-in-chief, Revolutionary Army, 1925; leader of the Nationalist Party, 1925; head of Nationalist Party government, 1928–1949; recognized as leader of one of Allied Powers in Second World War; Chiang's China was given a permanent seat on United Nations Security Council, 1945; defeated in Chinese civil war by Mao Zedong and Communist Party, 1949; fled to island of Taiwan, 1949; president of the Republic of China [Taiwan], 1949–1975.
8 Soong Mei-ling, also known as Madame Chiang Kai-shek or Madame Chiang (1898–2003): born in Shanghai; educated at Wellesley College; wealthy, powerful wife of Chiang Kia-shek (married, 1927); she advised Chiang, helped to rally the Chinese people in opposition to the Japanese invaders, and used her perfect English to campaign in the United States.
9 James Francis Byrnes (1882–1972): US lawyer and politician; quit school at 14 and worked for a legal firm, putting himself through law school; congressman, 1911–1925; senator, 1931–1941; associate justice, Supreme Court, 1941–1942; director of the Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion, 1943–1945; secretary of state, 1945–1947; governor of South Carolina, 1951–1955.
10 Major Bagnall has not been identified.
11 Gordon Munro (1895–1967): civil servant; educated at the Royal Military College Sandhurst; married the eldest daughter of Stanley Baldwin (later prime minister) in 1919 – they divorced in 1934; bankers, Helbert Wagg and Company, 1919–1946; financial adviser to the British High Commissioner, Canada, 1941–1946; Treasury representative, Washington, 1946–1948; KCMG, 1947; British executive director, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 1947–1949; high commissioner for Southern Rhodesia, 1953; member of board of directors, Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, 1954.
12 Edwin Leonard Sykes (1914–2005): civil servant; Dominions Office, 1937–1939; assistant private secretary to foreign secretary, 1939; 1st secretary, British High Commission, Ottawa, 1941–1947; Commonwealth Relations Office, 1947–1948; Cabinet Office, 1949–1950; assistant secretary, 1951; assistant under-secretary of state, 1964–1965; deputy high commissioner, Pakistan, 1965–1966.
13 Stephen Lewis Holmes, later Sir Stephen (1896–1980): civil servant; educated at Christ Church, Oxford; Colonial Office, 1921; senior secretary, Office of High Commissioner, Canada, 1936–1939; assistant secretary, Dominion Office, 1939–1943; Dominions Office representative, Washington, 1943–1944; minister (commercial) and deputy high commissioner, Canada, 1944–1946; under secretary, Board of Trade, 1946, part of delegation for talks on abortive International Trade Organization; 2nd secretary, Board of Trade, 1947–1951; deputy under secretary, Commonwealth Relations Office, 1951–1952; high commissioner, Australia, 1952–1956; KCMG, 1950.
14 Frank Godbould Lee (1903–1971), later Sir Frank: civil servant; educated at Downing College, Cambridge; Colonial Office, 1926–1940; Treasury, 1940; deputy head, Treasury Delegation, Washington, 1944–1946; deputy secretary, Ministry of Supply, 1946–1947; minister, Washington Embassy, 1948–1949; permanent secretary, Ministry of Food, 1949–1951; permanent secretary, Board of Trade, 1951–1959; joint permanent secretary, Treasury, 1960–1962; master, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, 1962–1971.
15 Hugh Kenneth Goschen (1907–1989): banker and civil servant; educated at Eton and three years abroad learning languages; joined family firm, Goschens and Cunliffe; temporary administrative officer, Treasury, 1944; member of administrative staff, British Treasury Delegation in Washington, 1945; joint secretary (with Coe, Hebbard, and Frank Lee), U.S.-U.K. Economic Negotiations Finance Committee, 1945; joined Antony Gibbs, merchant bank, 1946. Goschen was slight of stature, suffered from asthma and carried injuries from riding accidents but possessed ‘determination and strength of character’ The Times (31 May 1989), 16.
16 Malcolm John MacDonald (1908–1981), son of the first Labour prime minister, James Ramsay MacDonald: politician and diplomat; educated at The Queen's College, Oxford; British high commissioner in Canada, 1941–1946; governor general, Malayan Union, Singapore and British Borneo, 1946; British commissioner general for South East Asia, 1948–1955; high commissioner in India, 1955–1960; governor general, Kenya, 1963–1964; high commissioner, Kenya, 1964–1965.
17 George Raymond Bell, later Sir Raymond (1916–2002): civil servant; educated at Bradford Grammar School and St John's College, Cambridge; Treasury, 1939–1941; Royal Naval Volunteer Service, 1941–1944; Treasury, 1945; financial secretary, High Commission, Ottawa, 1945–1948; counsellor to Permanent Delegation to the OEEC and NATO, Paris, 1953–1956; principal private secretary to the chancellor of the exchequer, 1958–1960; Brussels negotiating team for EEC entry, 1961–1962; deputy secretary, Treasury, 1966–1972; Brussels negotiating team for EEC entry, 1970–1972; vice president, European Investment Bank, 1973–1978; KCMG, 1973. ‘A quiet but shrewd man, Bell had the reputation of not opening his mouth unless he had something to say’, The Times (11 March 2002), 39.
18 An undated handwritten note on a separate piece of paper, which is unsigned but probably by Harmer, reads: ‘Raymond Ball is Raymond Bell. Ken = Ken Goschen. p. 62 [of diary typescript, 20 November–6 December, paragraph 8] – Vinson “dug out of a dance with some difficulty”. We were in the Willard Hotel + eventually V was tracked down to a dance on a floor above us in the hotel.’
19 James Lorimer Ilsley (1894–1967): Canadian lawyer and politician; educated at Acadia University and Dalhousie University; minister of finance, 1940–1945; minister of justice, 1946–1948; chief justice of Nova Scotia, 1950–1967.
20 Robert Broughton Bryce (1910–1997): Canadian public servant; educated at the University of Toronto, St John's College, Cambridge (student of Keynes) and Harvard University; Department of Finance, Canada, 1938–1945; executive director, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 1946–1947; secretary of the treasury board, 1947–1953; secretary to the Cabinet, 1954–1963; deputy minister of finance, 1963–1970; author of Maturing in Hard Times: Canada's Department of Finance through the Great Depression (Montreal, 1986), and Canada and the Cost of World War II: The International Operations of Canada's Department of Finance, 1939–1947, ed. Matthew J. Bellamy (Montreal, 2005).
21 Clause 3(c) of the Lend-Lease Act, March 1941 gave the US administration authority to carry out contracts and agreements with governments made before 1 July 1943. When the negotiations began, the Americans made clear that wind-up of Lend-Lease for Britain, as for all other countries, would be on 3(c) terms of 2⅜ per cent interest over 30 years, payment beginning in one year; DBPO, 1st ser., III, 243, British Missions, Washington to Cabinet Offices, 20 October 1945.
22 Clement Richard Attlee (1883–1967): Labour politician; educated at University College, Oxford; leader of the opposition, 1935–1940; lord privy seal, 1940–1942; secretary of state for Dominion Affairs, 1942–1943; lord president of the council, 1943–1945; deputy prime minister, 1942–1945; British prime minister, 1945–1951.
23 Harry S. Truman (1884–1972): US politician; commanded artillery battery in First World War; ran haberdashery store with his wife, Kansas City, 1919–1921, which went bankrupt; Jackson County judge, 1923–1935; senator, 1935–1945; vice president, 1945; president, 1945–1953. Dropped out of Kansas City Law School – the only president since William McKinley (1897–1901) not to receive a college degree.
24 William Archibald Mackintosh (1895–1970): Canadian economist; Department of Finance, 1939–1946; acting deputy minister of finance, 1945; director general, Economic Research Department, Department of Reconstruction and Supply, 1946; professor of Economics, Queen's University, Canada, 1927–1961.
25 Graham Ford Towers (1897–1975): Canadian banker; educated at McGill University; assistant general manager, Bank of Canada, Montreal, 1933–1934; governor, Bank of Canada, 1934–1954.
26 Louis Rasminsky: Canadian banker; Bank of Canada, 1940–1973; Foreign Exchange Control Board, Canada, 1940–1943; executive assistant to governors of Bank of Canada, 1943–1945; Canadian executive director, International Monetary Fund (IMF), 1946–1962; deputy governor, Bank of Canada, 1955–1961; governor, Bank of Canada, 1961–1973.
27 Norman Robertson (1904–1968): Canadian public servant; educated at the University of British Columbia and Balliol College, Oxford (Rhodes Scholar); Department of External Affairs, 1929; under secretary of state for external affairs, Canada, 1941–1946; Canadian high commissioner, London, 1946–1949 and 1952–1957; Canadian ambassador to United States, 1957–1958.
28 Sydney David Pierce (1901–1992): Canadian public servant; educated at McGill University; Ministry of Munitions and Supply, 1940; chief, Economic Division, Department of External Relations, [?1942]; ambassador to Mexico, 1947–1950; Canadian representative, OEEC, 1950–1951.
29 Hector MacKinnon (1890–1973): Canadian public servant; president, Commodity Prices Stabilization Corporation, 1941–1946; chairman of the Tariff Board.
30 Max McKenzie: Canadian Department of Commerce, 1945.
31 Interleaved in the diary there is the following document: ‘Note. 1. The High Commissioner is giving a dinner party, for Lord Keynes, at Earnscliffe at 7:15 p.m. (for 7:30 p.m.) this (Tuesday) evening. Business suits will be worn. 2. The following will be present – Lord Keynes, Hon. J.L. Ilsley – Minister of Finance; Hon C.D. Howe (may be late) – Minister of Reconstruction and Supply; Hon. L. S. St. Laurent – Minister of Justice; Hon Douglas Abbott – Minister of National Defence for Army and Navy; Hon. Brooke Claxton – Minister of National Health and Welfare; Hon. James MacKinnon – Minister of Trade and Commerce; Mr Norman Robertson; Mr Hume Wrong; Dr Mackintosh; Mr Graham Towers; Mr Hall-Patch; Mr F. E. Harmer; Mr Stephen Holmes; Mr Gordon Munro; and the High Commissioner. 3. Mr Arnold Heeney and Mr Karl Fraser are also being invited. This will bring the numbers up to 18. In the event of either of the above being unable to accept[,] Mr Maurice Wiseman in the first instance, and then Mr Rasminsky[,] are to be invited to maintain the number of 18. Distribution – High Commissioner, Lord Keynes, Mr Hall-Patch, Mr Harmer, Miss Girouard.’
32 Brian Brooke Claxton (1898–1960): Canadian lawyer and politician; educated at McGill University; minister of health and welfare, 1943–1946; minister of national defence, 1946–1954.
33 Arnold Heeney (1902–1970): Canadian civil servant; educated at the University of Manitoba; Rhodes Scholar, St John's College, Oxford; secretary of the Cabinet, Canada; under secretary of state for external affairs, 1949–1953; ambassador to the United States, 1953–1957.
34 Jamshed Burjori Vesugar, (1894–1971): Indian civil servant; educated at the University of London; head of Indian Supply Mission, Washington, 1945–1947.
35 Clarence Decatur Howe (1916–1980): US-born Canadian politician; educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); minister of munitions and supply, 1940–1944; head of Mutual Aid Board, Canada, 1943–1945; minister of reconstruction and supply, 1944–1948; minister of trade and commerce, 1948.
36 Louis Stephen St Laurent (1882–1973): Canadian politician; educated at the Séminaire Saint-Charles-Borromée and Université Laval; minister of justice, 1941–1946; secretary of state for external affairs, 1945–1948; Canadian prime minister, 1948–1957.
37 Lester Bowles Pearson (1897–1972), known informally as Mike: Canadian public servant and politician; educated at the University of Toronto and St John's College, Oxford; ambassador to the United States, 1945–1946; under secretary of state for external affairs, 1946–1948; secretary of state for external affairs, 1948–1957; winner of Nobel Peace Prize 1957; Canadian prime minister, 1963–1968.
38 On the British Admiralty Technical Mission (BATM), see TNA, CAB 102/126, F.N. Smith, ‘The British Admiralty Technical Mission in Canada’, unpublished narrative.
39 The Canadians agreed to continue with supplies to Britain until the end of the year, which Hall-Patch estimated to be worth $300 million; DBPO, 1986), 1st ser., III, 117, Hall-Patch to Cadogan, 8 September 1945.
40 The PX, or Post Exchange, was the name of canteen and retail stores for the US army located at key airports and military bases. Renamed the Army and Air Force Exchange Service in 1948, it continues to serve the US military, in what are sometimes still known as post exchanges (PX) or now ‘base exchanges’ (BX) among other names.
41 The Willard Hotel, Pennsylvania Avenue and 14th Street, was opposite the US Treasury. Its ninth floor was leased to serve as the offices of the British Treasury Delegation.
42 Robert Henry Brand: Treasury representative, 1944–1946; chairman of the British Supply Council (BSC), 1945–1946.
43 Albert Henry Self, later Sir Henry (1890–1975): civil servant; director-general, British Air Commission, 1940–1941; member of British Joint Staff Mission (BJSM), Washington, 1942; deputy chairman, BSC, Washington, 1945–1946; permanent secretary, British Ministry of Civil Aviation, 1946–1947.
44 They stayed at the Statler Hotel, 16th Street. It is sometimes misspelled as Statlar in the typescript and this is sometimes corrected. Statler is used throughout this transcription.
45 Roger Bentham Stevens (1906–1980): civil servant/diplomat; educated at The Queen's College, Oxford; secretary, British Civil Secretariat, Washington, 1944–1946; head of Economic Relations Department, Foreign Office, 1946–1948; ambassador to Sweden, 1951–1954; ambassador to Persia/Iran, 1954–1958; deputy under secretary of state, Foreign Office, 1958–1963; vice chancellor, University of Leeds, 1963–1970.
46 Following amendment of the Neutrality Act in November 1939, which permitted ‘cash and carry’ purchases, the Anglo-French Purchasing Commission obtained vital armaments for the British war effort. In January 1941 it became part of the newly created British Supply Council (BSC), which oversaw all types of vital supplies. Stevens was secretary general of the British Civil Secretariat in Washington that serviced the needs of BSC.
47 Not identified.
48 Dorothy Evans: civil servant, Treasury, ?1944–1946.
49 United Kingdom Treasury Delegation: the typescript originally read ‘U.S.C.T.F’ but was amended by Harmer's manuscript addition: ‘?UKTD [F.E.H.'s correction]’.
50 David Fleming McCurrach (1911–1994): economist and businessman; educated at the University of St Andrews; UK Treasury Delegation, Washington, 1945; chairman of Second Alliance Trust Company, 1967–1980; managing director, Second Alliance Trust Company, 1972–1976.
51 Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, Lord Halifax (1881–1959): Conservative politician: educated at Christ Church, Oxford, fellow of All Souls College, Oxford; viceroy of India, 1925–1931; foreign secretary, 1938–1940; ambassador to the United States, 1941–1946.
52 Winthrop Gilman Brown (1907–1987): US lawyer and public servant; educated at Yale University and Yale Law School; Lend-Lease Administration, 1941; executive officer, Harriman Mission and Mission for Economic Affairs, London, 1941–1945; Division of Commercial Policy, State Department, 1945; director, Office of International Materials Policy, Department of State, 1951; attaché at the US Embassy, London, June 1952; counselor at the US Embassy, London, August 1952; ambassador to Laos, 1960–1962; ambassador to South Korea, 1964–1967.
53 Charles P. Noyes (1911–1994): US lawyer and diplomat; educated at Yale University and Yale Law School; lawyer, Winthrop, Stimson, Putnam & Roberts, New York until 1941; legal staff, Lend-Lease Administration, 1941; assistant to W. Averell Harriman, Roosevelt's Special Representative to Britain, 1941; assistant to secretary of state Stettinius, 1944–1945; a member of the United States Mission to the United Nations, late 1940s; minister-counselor to the United States Mission at the United Nations, 1961–1965.
54 Charles Denby Jr: lawyer and wartime official; born Tientsin, China; educated at Princeton University and Harvard Law School; law clerk to the Supreme Court justice, Oliver Wendell Holmes, 1925–1926; lawyer in Pittsburgh, 1939; director, General Areas Branch, Foreign Economic Administration (FEA), 1944–1945; he was so well regarded by British officials that Robert Brand persuaded Keynes to write Denby a letter of regret at his departure – see Brand Report (letter), 23 June 1945.
55 In September 1943 the Foreign Economic Administration (FEA) was created to co-ordinate the huge range of US foreign economic activities. Various agencies were abolished; in particular, it replaced the Office of Lend-Lease Administration (1941–1943). The FEA was terminated on 27 September 1945; ‘Executive Order: Redistribution of Foreign Economic Functions and Functions with Respect to Surplus Property in Foreign Areas’, Department of State Bulletin, 13:327 (30 September 1945), 491–492.
56 Leo Thomas Crowley (1889–1972): businessman and public servant; educated at the University of Wisconsin; chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, 1934–1945; director, Office of Economic Warfare, 1943; administrator, FEA, 1943–1945.
57 Harmer's US visit paved the way for the Anglo-American Petroleum Agreement of 8 August, committing them to develop petroleum resources ‘in an orderly manner on a worldwide basis so as to make them available in international trade at fair prices on a nondiscriminatory basis’. They also agreed to establish an International Petroleum Agreement and an International Petroleum Council. By September 1945 the US government had not ratified the agreement and wanted to remove the clause that allowed the British to conserve dollars by increasing use of sterling sources of supply. ‘Petroleum Agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom’, Department of State Bulletin, 11:268 (13 August 1944), 153–156.
58 William Lockhart Clayton (1880–1966): Mississippi-born American cotton merchant based in Texas; US Federal Loan Administration and vice president, Export-Import Bank, 1940–1942; assistant secretary of state, 1944–1945; under secretary of state for economic affairs, 1945–1947.
59 Fred Moore Vinson (1890–1953): Kentucky-born lawyer, known as ‘Judge’; educated at Center College, Kentucky; House of Representatives, 1924–1928, 1930–1937; judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Circuit of the District of Columbia, 1937–1952; chief judge of the United States Emergency Court of Appeals, 1942–1943; director of the Office of Economic Stabilization, 1943–1945; director, Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion, 1945; secretary of the Treasury, 1945–1946; chief justice, US Supreme Court, 1946.
60 Henry Agard Wallace (1888–1965), son of Henry Cantwell Wallace (secretary of agriculture, 1921–1924): US economist and politician; educated at Iowa State University; secretary of agriculture, 1933–1940; vice president, 1941–1945; secretary of commerce, 1945–1946; contested presidential election as Progressive Party candidate, 1948.
61 Marriner Stoddard Eccles (1890–1977): Utah-born banker; educated at Brigham Young College; governor, US Federal Reserve Board (FRB), 1934–1951; chairman of the US FRB, 1936–1948; member, US Delegation, Bretton Woods, 1944.
62 Thomas Bayard McCabe (1893–1982): US banker; educated at Swarthmore College; director, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, 1938–1948; army-navy liquidation commissioner, 1945; Lend-Lease and Surplus Disposal Committees transferred (when FEA was shut down) to State Department and merged into one committee with McCabe as deputy chairman and Clayton as chairman; chairman, board of governors, Federal Reserve System, 1948–1951.
63 Surplus War Property Administration (SWPA) was part of the Office of War Mobilization (set up in May 1943 and replaced by the Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion in October 1944). SWPA was renamed the Surplus Property Board in October 1944 and then the Surplus Property Administration in September 1945.
64 Harry Dexter White (1892–1948): economist and public servant; educated at Columbia University, Stanford University and Harvard University; US Treasury, 1934; director of Monetary Research, US Treasury, assistant to Henry Morgenthau, 1941–1945; assistant secretary, US Treasury, 1945–1946; first US executive director, IMF, 1946–1947.
65 National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland [hereafter NARA], RG 59, Central decimal Files, 1945–1949, 611.4131/5-1446, Record of 11 September 1945 meeting; Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS), 1945, VI, 122–126.
66 Halifax observed: ‘I thought Keynes got himself pressed a bit more than was wise when it came to questions. But I dare say it won't do any harm in the long run.’ Borthwick Institute, University of York, Halifax Hickleton Papers, A.7.8.17, Halifax Diary, p. 1472 (12 September 1945).
67 R.G.D. Allen later wrote the article, ‘Mutual Aid between the U.S. and the British Empire, 1941–1945’, Journal of Royal Statistical Society 109:3 (1946), 243–277; reprinted in R.S. Sayers, Financial Policy, 1939–1945 (London, 1956), 518–556.
68 This was one of five Anglo-American Combined Boards designed to allocate resources in waging war. The others were Munitions Assignment; Food; Raw Materials; and Shipping Adjustment.
69 Harmer was explaining that each time they chose a dish they were told it was off the menu.
70 Halifax's diary noted: ‘I thought he [Keynes] did this quite well, and the Americans listened with great attention. One of the lighter touches that he introduced, was to explain an unexpected difficulty in the matter of getting houses built. According to him one of the bottle-necks for this was the shortage of Architects and Lawyers to draw the contracts etc., “and it is very difficult to excite a high degree of popular enthusiasm for the early release of Lawyers from the Forces”.’ Borthwick Institute, University of York, Halifax Hickleton Papers, A.7.8.17, Halifax Diary, p. 1473 (13 September 1945).
71 Benno Charles Schmidt (1913–1999): lawyer and businessman; educated at the University of Texas and University of Texas Law School; US Army, 1942–1945, rising to rank of colonel; general counsel and director of Office of Foreign Liquidation Commissioner, 1945 (McCabe was the commissioner); joined J.H. Whitney Company, 1945, credited with coining the expression ‘venture capital’ to describe the firm's practice of offering seed investments.
72 Maurice Richard Bridgeman, later Sir Maurice (1904–1980): oil industrialist and civil servant; educated at Trinity College, Cambridge; Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, 1926–1939; petroleum adviser, Ministry of Fuel and Power, 1939–1944; principal assistant secretary, Oil Division, Ministry of Fuel and Power, 1944–1946; returned to Anglo-Iranian Oil Company in 1945, rising to chairman of the renamed company, British Petroleum, 1960–1969; KBE, 1964.
73 John Edward Reginald Wyndham (1920–1972): private secretary to Harold Macmillan during his various posts, 1940–1945; private secretary to Robert Brand, July–December 1945; Baron Egremont, 1963. Memoirs: Lord Egremont, Wyndham and Children First (London, 1968).
74 Percivale Liesching, later Sir Percivale (1895–1973): civil servant; educated at Brasenose College, Oxford; Colonial Office, 1920; Dominions Office, 1925; member of staff, Britain's first high commissioner, Canada, 1928–1932; political secretary to British high commissioner in Australia, 1933–1935; official secretary to British high commissioner in Australia, 1936–1938; assistant under secretary, Dominions Office, 1939–1942; 2nd secretary, Board of Trade, 1942–1946; permanent secretary, Ministry of Food, 1946–1948; permanent under secretary, Commonwealth Relations Office, 1949–1955.
75 Harvey's restaurant, Connecticut Avenue, was adjacent to the Mayflower Hotel, where Keynes had stayed for eleven weeks in 1941.
76 Paul Louis Jean Bareau (1901–2000): Belgian–born financial journalist; educated at the London School of Economics (LSE); journalist at the News Chronicle, 1933–1944; accompanied Keynes to the Bretton Woods conference, July 1944; press officer, British Treasury Delegation, Washington, 1944–1947; lecturer in banking, LSE, 1947–1951; journalist at the News Chronicle, 1947–1958.
77 The Central Statistical Office, created in January 1941, merged with the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys to form the Office of National Statistics in April 1996.
78 Major Anthony Hamilton, younger brother of Harmer's wife, Barbara.
79 The Salle du Bois on M Street was one of the few French restaurants in Washington at the time.
80 James Waterhouse Angell (1898–1986): economist; educated at Harvard University; professor, Columbia University, 1931–1966; Office of Civilian Requirements, War Production Board and predecessor units, 1941–1943; FEA, 1943–1945; assistant administrator in the FEA; US representative, Allied Commission on Reparations, Germany, 1945–1946.
81 Halifax noted: ‘they were apparently unwilling to put many of their cards on the table . . . and said that we had not been precise enough about how much we would cut our sterling creditors to match whatever America might be able to do. This put us in a little difficulty, as we have to be very careful not to give our sterling creditors . . . away behind their backs. The Americans plainly thought we should tell India where she got off, and that this little financial pill could be well covered up with the sugar of Wavell's political announcement. I did my best to correct this point.’ Borthwick Institute, University of York, Halifax Hickleton Papers, A.7.8.17, Halifax Diary, p. 1479 (19 September 1945).
82 John H. Crider, ‘British Base Plea for Aid on Justice Over War's Costs’, New York Times (21 September 1945), 1, 6.
83 Not identified.
84 Jule M. Hannaford (?1912–1981): lawyer and wartime official; chief counsel, British Empire and Middle East Division, FEA, ?1943–1945.
85 The Surplus Property Disposal Committee named the dead cats committee by Ken Goschen; see entry for 29 October below.
86 Harold Glasser (1905–1992): American economist and public official; educated at the University of Chicago and Harvard University; Treasury, 1936, assistant director, Monetary Research, 1938–1946; revealed as KGB agent through the Venona decrypts of Soviet intelligence signals.
87 Reginald Daniel Fennelly, later Sir Daniel: civil servant; head of British Raw Materials Mission (BRMM), United States, 1945; under secretary of state, Board of Trade, 1951; Knight Bachelor, 1951.
88 J.R.C. Helmore, later Sir James (1906–1972): civil servant; principal assistant secretary, Commercial Relations and Treaties Department, Board of Trade, 1942–1946; permanent secretary, Ministry of Materials, 1952; permanent secretary, Ministry of Supply, 1953–1956.
89 William Ogden Hart: head of the British Merchant Shipping Mission (BMSM), Washington, set up October 1940, which ran till 1945.
90 The United Maritime Authority was created in July 1944 at a conference of allied nations in London. The UMA terminated in March 1946, passing its responsibilities to the UN, which founded the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization in 1948, renamed the International Maritime Organization in 1982.
91 William Vincent Griffin (1886–1958): American company director and chairman; director, Lend-Lease, British Empire Branch, FEA, 1942–1945.
92 John Hall Magowan (1893–1951): diplomat; educated at Trinity College, Dublin; commercial counsellor, Germany, 1937–1939; seconded to Treasury, 1939; minister (commercial), Washington Embassy, 1942–1948; UK representative for Commercial Policy talks, 1945; KBE, 1946.
93 James William Fulbright (1905–1995): US politician; educated at the University of Arkansas, University College, Oxford (Rhodes Scholar), George Washington University Law School; House of Representatives, 1943–1945; sponsored Fulbright Resolution 1943 supporting US participation in the new international organization being created – the UN; senator, 1945–1974; introduced a bill to use of proceeds of surplus war property sales to fund international exchange of students; chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, 1959–1974.
94 Garry Tyrrell: Washington Embassy, 1945.
95 J.P. Summerscale: civil servant; counsellor (commercial), British Embassy, Washington, 1945–1946.
96 Alexander Thomas Kingdom Grant (1906–1988): economist and civil servant; educated at University College, Oxford; lecturer in Political Economy, University College, London, 1938–1939; Treasury, 1939; under secretary, 1956; fellow, Pembroke College, Cambridge, 1966–1973.
97 On Approval (dir. Clive Brook, 1944): a romantic comedy, starring Roland Culver and Googie Withers.
98 Andrew Browne Cunningham (1883–1946): Royal Navy officer; commander-in-chief, Mediterranean Fleet, 1940–1943; admiral of the fleet, 1943; first sea lord, 1943–1946; Baron Cunningham of Hyndhope, 1945; 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope, 1946.
99 Thomas Francis Tallents (1896–1947): businessman; educated at Balliol College, Oxford; Board of British Overseas Bank, 1925; Board of Union Discount Company, London, 1944; chairman and managing director of the New Zealand Shipping Company, 1944–1947.
100 Mayflower Hotel, Connecticut Avenue, where Keynes had stayed on previous visits to Washington.
101 Chester William Nimitz (1885–1966): educated at the US Naval Academy, Annapolis; commander of Pacific Fleet, December 1941 to December 1945, especially celebrated for his famous victories at Midway and the Coral Sea in 1942; admiral of the fleet, 1944; chief of naval operations, 1945–1947.
102 John Gilbert Simon, later 2nd Viscount Simon (1902–1993), son of Sir John Simon (foreign secretary, 1931–1935; chancellor of the exchequer, 1937–1940, lord chancellor, 1940–1945): educated at Balliol College, Oxford; Ministry of War Transport, 1940–1947; Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG), 1947: managing director, P & O Steam Navigation Company, 1947–1958; 2nd Viscount Simon, 1954.
103 Edwin McCarthy, later Sir Edwin (1896–1980): Australian public servant; education – left school at 15, then part-time degree, University of Melbourne, 1932; Australian shipping representative, Washington, 1941–1945; secretary, Department of Commerce and Agriculture, 1945; deputy high commissioner, London, 1949; high commissioner, London, 1956; ambassador to Netherlands, 1958–1962; ambassador to European Community, 1960–1964.
104 The typescript contains a handwritten marginal query, ‘? DUNK (L.S.P.)’ It also contains, at 24th October entry, another correction by L.S.P. this time of Duul to Dunk. These comments seem likely to be by L. S. Pressnell, who used the diary for his book, External Economic Policy since the War (London, 1986). William Ernest Dunk, later Sir William (1897–1984): Australian public servant; diploma in accountancy, 1928; Commonwealth Bank, London, 1934, and Sydney, 1938; Australian Treasury, 1939; director, Reciprocal Lend-Lease, 1942; secretary, Department of External Relations, 1945; chairman, Commonwealth Public Service Board, 1947–1960.
105 Sir Ronald Thornbury Garrett, (1888–1972): deputy chairman of Lloyd's Register, London, 1945; chairman of Lloyd's Register, 1946–1957.
106 Charles Aubrey Eaton (1868–1953): US politician and clergyman; born in Nova Scotia; educated at Acadia University and Newton Theological Institution, Massachusetts; House of Representatives, New Jersey – Republican, 1925–1953; chairman, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, 1947–1949.
107 Robert C. Word Ramspeck (1890–1972): US lawyer, politician and businessman; educated at Atlanta Georgia Law School; House of Representatives, Georgia – Democrat, 1929–1945; resigned 31 December 1945 to become executive president of the Air Transport Association.
108 John Taber (1880–1965): US lawyer and politician; educated at Yale University and New York Law School; House of Representatives, New York – Republican, 1923–1963; member of House Finance Committee, 1945; chairman of House Appropriations Committee, 1953–1955.
109 John William McCormack (1891–1980): US lawyer and politician; studied law in private law office; House of Representatives, Massachusetts – Democrat, 1928–1971; majority leader, House of Representatives, 1939–1947, 1949–1953, 1955–1963.
110 Clarence Cannon (1879–1964): US lawyer and politician; educated at La Grange Junior College, Hannibal, Missouri, William Jewell College, Liberty, Missouri, and the University of Missouri at Columbia Law School; House of Representatives, Missouri – Democrat, 1923–1964.
111 Congressman Luther Johnson (Democrat, Texas), identified as present in Halifax Diary, 9 October 1945, Borthwick Institute, University of York, Halifax Hickleton Papers, A.7.8.17, pp. 1494–1495.
112 Menc S. Szymczak (1894–1978): US banker; educated at St Mary's College and DePaul University, Chicago; vice president, Hattermann & Glanz State Bank, 1929–1930; vice president and director of Northwestern Trust and Savings Bank, 1930–1931; Chicago comptroller, 1931–1933; member of the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System, 1933–1961.
113 Warren Randolph Burgess (1879–1978): American banker and diplomat; educated at Brown University and Columbia University; Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 1920–1938; vice chairman of the board, National City Bank of New York, 1938; president of the American Bankers’ Association, 1944–1945; under secretary of the Treasury 1954; US permanent representative to NATO, 1957–1961.
114 Matthew Josephson, The Politicos, 1865–1896 (New York, 1938). Josephson's earlier book was The Robber Barons: The Great American Capitalists, 1861–1901 (New York, 1934).
115 Emilio Gabriel (Pete) Collado (1910–1995): economist and public servant; educated at MIT and Harvard University; US Treasury, 1934–1936; Federal Reserve Bank, New York, 1936–1938; State Department, 1938–1948; associate economic adviser, special assistant to under secretary, director of the Office of Financial and Development Policy, State Department, 1939–1945; Export-Import Bank, Washington, 1944–1945; delegate, Bretton Woods Conference, 1944; US executive director, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 1946–1947; Standard Oil Company of New Jersey [later subsumed in Exxon], 1947–1975.
116 Walter Nelson Thayer (1910–1989): lawyer, investment banker; Lend-Lease Administration, 1941–1942; member of Harriman Mission, London, 1942–1943; general counsel, FEA, 1945.
117 Hubert Frank Havlik (1904–1983): public servant; War Production Board (Office of Civilian Supply, Program Review), 1942–1944; adviser on Lend-Lease, FEA, 1944–1945; chief, Division of Lend-Lease and Surplus War Property Affairs, Department of State, 1945–1946; chief, Division of Investment and Economic Development, Department of State, 1946–1948; chief, Payments Section and Trade and Payments Division, Office of Special Representative, Economic Co-operation Administration (later Mutual Security Administration and Foreign Operations Administration), Paris, 1948–1954; US representative on Managing Board of European Payments Union, Paris, 1950–1954; staff of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 1954–1969.
118 When the Foreign Economic Administration was terminated on 27 September 1945, the State Department assumed responsibility for many of the FEA's functions: Lend-Lease, UNRRA, supplying liberated areas, information gathering and analysis, and planning of control of occupied territories. See Department of State Bulletin, 13:327 (30 September 1945), 491–492.
119 The British were seeking a loan of $5 billion, while the Americans seemed reluctant to go beyond $3 or $4 billion.
120 In response to one of Keynes’ remarks, Vinson observed: ‘Mebbe so, Lawd Keynes, but down where I come from folks don't look at things that way.’ Despite the warning, Keynes continued to make sharp comments. See Richard Gardner, Sterling-Dollar Diplomacy (Oxford, 1956), 199, 201.
121 Lionel Charles Robbins (1898–1984): economist, civil servant and educator; educated at University College, London and the LSE; professor of Economics, LSE, 1929–1961; director, Economic Section, War Cabinet Offices, 1941–1945; Baron Robbins, 1959.
122 TNA, FO 371/45704, UE4920G/094/53, JSM to Cabinet Office, NABOB 177, 18 October 1945.
123 Lend-Lease agreement clause 3c involved a US loan at 2⅜ per cent. See Introduction n. 64.
124 The House on 92nd Street (dir. Henry Hathaway, 1945) is a dramatized treatment of the true story of how the FBI thwarted Nazi agents in New York during the war; and uses actual surveillance footage.
125 William Donaldson Clark (1916–1985): journalist and civil servant; educated at Oriel College, Oxford and University of Chicago; member of British Information Services (BIS), which was created in 1941, with headquarters in the Rockefeller Center, New York City and offices around the US. Originally established by the Ministry of Information, BIS fell under the control of the British Embassy, Washington; Clark worked in the Chicago office. Later Clark worked as a press attaché, Washington, 1945–1946; editor of Encyclopædia Britannica, 1946–1949; journalist, The Observer, 1949–1955; press and public relations adviser to the prime minister, Sir Anthony Eden, 1955–1956, resigning in protest at the Suez policy; journalist, The Observer, 1956–1960; director of Overseas Development Institute, 1960–1967; director of Information and Public Affairs, World Bank, 1967–1974; and vice president, World Bank, 1974–1980.
126 They were awaiting a reply to Keynes's NABOB 177 telegram of 18 October, which Harmer called a ‘superb work’ (17 October).
127 Sir Wilfrid Eady (1890–1962): civil servant; educated at Jesus College, Cambridge; Ministry of Labour, 1917–1938; deputy under secretary, Home Office, 1938–1940; deputy chairman, Board of Customs and Excise, 1940–1941; chairman, Board of Customs and Excise, 1941–1942; joint 2nd secretary, Treasury, 1942–1952.
128 DBPO, 1st ser., III, 255–256 (British Missions, Washington to Cabinet Offices, BABOON 155, 27 October 1945), 257–261 (British Missions, Washington to Cabinet Offices, BABOON 156, 27 October 1945). The telegrams outlined two alternatives. Alternative A: $2,500 million loan over 50 years at 1% and the option of a further $2 billion interest-free; and, if this was not feasible, Alternative B – open credit up to $2,500 million plus Lend-Lease at 2% for 50 years, repayment beginning after five years.
129 DBPO, 1st ser., III, 269–271, British Missions, Washington to Cabinet Offices, NABOB 230, 28 October 1945.
130 DBPO, 1st ser., III, 271–272, Cabinet Offices to British Missions, Washington, BABOON 158, 29 October 1945: the chancellor of the exchequer, Hugh Dalton was ‘prepared to accept a recommendation from you for 2 per cent on the 2½ billion dollars for ourselves provided that the 2 billion for the Sterling Area is interest free’.
131 Macready, de Chassiron and Nowell were members of the British Joint Staff Mission (BJSM), established at the British Embassy in Washington in 1941 to co-ordinate Anglo-American military co-operation. It survived the war and was renamed the British Joint Services Mission in 1948. Field Marshal Sir Henry Maitland Wilson was head of BJSM, 1945–1947. Within BJSM Major-General Sir Gordon Nevil Macready (1891–1956) was chief, British Army Staff, 1942–May 1946; Admiral Sir James Somerville was leader of the Admiralty Delegation, 1944–1945; and Air Marshal Douglas Colyer was leader of the Air Staff, 1944–1946.
132 DBPO, 1st ser., III, No 94i, Eady to Keynes, BABOON 189, 3 November 1945.
133 JMK CW, XXIV, pp. 571–577, Keynes to White, enclosing ‘Sterling Area Arrangements’, 5 November 1945.
134 DBPO, 1st ser., III, 289–292, Cabinet Offices to British Missions, Washington, BABOON 206, 6 November 1945. Dalton dropped Alternative B and confirmed Keynes could present revised version (in BABOON 158 of 29 October) of Alternative A – $2,500 million loan at 2%.
135 James Elliott Coyne (1910–2012): Canadian banker; educated at the University of Manitoba; Rhodes Scholar, The Queen's College, Oxford, 1931–1934; Bank of Canada, 1938–1939; financial attaché, Canadian Embassy, Washington DC; Royal Canadian Air Force, 1942–1944; Bank of Canada, 1944–1961: executive assistant to the 1st governor of the Bank of Canada, Graham F. Towers, 1944–1949; deputy governor, 1950–1954; governor, 1955–1961.
136 Charles Ritchie (1906–1995): Canadian diplomat; educated at University of King's College, Canada, Pembroke College, Oxford and Harvard University; Department of External affairs, 1934; ambassador to West Germany, 1954–1958; permanent representative to the United Nations, 1958–1962; ambassador to the United States, 1962–1966; ambassador to the North Atlantic Council, 1966–1967; high commissioner, London, 1967–1971. Memoirs – The Siren Years: A Canadian Diplomat Abroad 1937–1945 (Toronto, 1974).
137 Sir (Richard) Stafford Cripps (1889–1952): lawyer and Labour party politician; educated at University College, London; KC, 1927; knighted as solicitor general, 1930; ambassador to the Soviet Union, 1940–1942; leader of mission to India, 1942; minister of aircraft production, 1942–1945; president of the Board of Trade, 1945–1947; chancellor of the exchequer, 1947–1950.
138 Ernest Bevin (1881–1951): trade union leader and Labour Party politician; leader of the Transport and General Workers’ Union, 1922–1940; minister of labour, 1940–1945; foreign secretary, 1945–1951.
139 Hugh Dalton (1887–1962): Labour politician and economist; educated at King's College, Cambridge and the LSE; parliamentary under secretary, Foreign Office, 1929–1931; minister of economic warfare, 1940–1942; president of the Board of Trade, 1942–1945; chancellor of the exchequer, 1945–1947.
140 One of Harmer's central functions during the talks was to produce statistical materials. At this time he compiled and submitted to the Americans ‘Statistical Material presented during the Washington Negotiations’; TNA, T247/47, OF272/45.
141 Bodleian Library, Oxford, Robert Brand Papers, Brand 195/1, F. Stage III Personal R.H.B. folder, Keynes to Brand, 11 July 1945: Keynes wrote of what he regarded as the phoney case for more planes from the Americans.
142 The American failure to ratify the Anglo-American Petroleum Agreement of August 1944 led to new discussions in London, 18–24 September. The revised agreement removed the phrase that permitted the British, when the economic circumstances warranted it, to reduce oil purchases in dollars and obtain supplies from sterling sources. The Americans expressed understanding of the British need to reduce dollar expenditure. The inclusion of an import limitation clause that allowed Britain to restrict dollar oil imports eased the government's concerns. Both governments committed themselves to finding a way forward. Purchases of oil became caught up in the Washington discussions as a feature of issues about the sterling area, its dollar pool and convertibility. DBPO, 1st ser., III, 87–88, Notes by Mr Gallop, September 1945; TNA, CAB 129/2, CP(45) 194, ‘Anglo-American Oil Agreement’, 26 September 1945; Painter, Private Power and Public Policy, 69–74.
143 DBPO, 1st ser., III, no 104i, Minutes of US-UK Finance Committee, 15 November 1945, US draft, 14 November 1945.
144 Two telegrams of 21 November summarized the situation. On 19 November the Americans had presented a text proposing a loan, with the amount left blank (though Keynes and his team thought that $4 billion was possible), at 2% interest with repayments over 50 years, starting on 31 December 1951, and with a waiver of interest under certain conditions. In return, Britain would make sterling receipts from current transactions of all sterling area countries freely convertible by the end of 1946. There was disagreement on the total amount for Lend-Lease wind-up but there seemed the chance the Americans would not insist on 3c terms. DBPO, 1st ser., III, 335–338 (British Missions, Washington to Cabinet Offices, NABOB 370, 21 November 1945), 341–344 (Cabinet Offices to British Missions, Washington, NABOB 372, 21 November 1945).
145 Attlee visited the United States (9–21 November 1945) for atomic energy talks with Truman and the Canadian prime minister, W.L. Mackenzie King.
146 DBPO 1st ser., III, 354–356 Bevin to Halifax, 24 November 1945; sent at 2:04 a.m. in London but arrived in Washington on the 23rd.
147 Edward Ettindine Bridges (1892–1969): civil servant; educated at Magdalen College, Oxford; fellow, All Souls College, Oxford, 1920–1927; Treasury, 1919–1938; secretary to the Cabinet, 1938–1945; permanent secretary, Treasury, 1945–1956. Keynes had envisaged that the last lap of negotiations might require someone senior from London to finalize agreement but he had spoken of government ministers, not an official; JMK CW, XXIV, p. 418.
148 Dean Acheson (1893–1971): lawyer, public servant and politician; educated at Yale University and Harvard Law School; under secretary of the Treasury, 1933; assistant secretary of state, 1941–1945; under secretary of state, 1945–1947; secretary of state, 1949–1953; consulted by Presidents John F. Kennedy (1961–1963), Lyndon B. Johnson (1963–1969), and Richard M. Nixon (1969–1974).
149 DBPO, 1st ser., III, 424–425, BABOON 339, Eady to Bridges, 3 December 1945, whose closing line reads ‘nox una dormienda’. NABOB (from Washington) and BABOON (from London) were the names assigned to the telegrams between Keynes's mission and London. They derived from Keynes's description of Lend-Lease administrator Leo Crowley as the baboon. Cable series designations were usually a straight reversal of letters; such as, for example, CAMER (from Treasury Representative, Washington) and REMAC (from Treasury, London).
150 Robert Jones Shackle (1895–1950): civil servant; assistant principal, Board of Trade, 1920; principal, 1929; assistant secretary, 1935; principal assistant secretary, Commercial Relations and Treaties Department, Board of Trade, 1945–1947.
151 Sir (Sigismund) David (‘Sigi’) Waley (formerly Schloss) (1887–1962): civil servant; educated at Balliol College, Oxford; Treasury, 1910–1916; assistant secretary, 1924–1931; principal assistant secretary, 1931–1946; 3rd secretary, 1946–1947; European Recovery Department, Foreign Office, 1948; KCMG, 1943.
152 Sir Herbert Brittain (1894–1961): civil servant; educated at the University of Manchester; Treasury, 1919; 3rd secretary, 1942–1953; 2nd secretary, 1953–1957; KBE, 1944; KCB, 1955.
153 Sir Henry Wilson Smith (1904–1978): civil servant; educated at Peterhouse, Cambridge; General Post Office, 1927; Treasury, 1930; assistant private secretary to the chancellor of the exchequer, 1932; principal private secretary, 1940; under secretary, 1942–1946; permanent secretary, Ministry of Defence, 1947–1948; 2nd secretary, Treasury, 1948–1951; KBE, 1945; KCB, 1949.
154 Sir Ernest Rowe-Dutton (1891–1965): civil servant; Inland Revenue, 1914; Treasury, 1919–1951; financial adviser, British Embassy, Berlin, 1928–1932; British Embassy Paris, 1934–1939; 3rd Secretary, Treasury, 1947–1949; KCMG, 1949.
155 Philip Dennis Proctor, later Sir Denis (1905–1983): civil servant; educated at King's College, Cambridge; Apostle; Ministry of Health, 1929; Treasury, 1930; 3rd Secretary, 1948–1950; deputy secretary, Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation, 1953–1958, permanent secretary, Ministry of Power, 1958–1965); KCB, 1959.