On Wed, 11 Aug 2010, Marv Gandall wrote:
> it does appear from even a cursory
> reading to contradict your's and Michael's suggestion that Truman was
> almost exclusively driven by an humanitarian concern for the Jews to the
> detriment of any White House strategic thinking about US interests
Marv I never meant to imply anything like that. I guess I was too terse. Strategic considerations were foremost in Truman's mind. But in sum they pointed against recognition. Certainly the representatives of strategic considerations, State and Defense, thought so. Domestic political considerations pointed slightly for it. Truman IMHO gave that extra weight, but it was still not enough, and it wasn't a reason you could put on the scale in public. Which was why I think he latched onto DP considerations (which were more than humanitarian -- it had to do with reputation, kind of like gitmo, and with political considerations, as something moral he thought he could sell best). It was in this situation that they could play the role of deciding straw. They were not by any means his exclusive concern.
Michael