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ROOSEVELT'S VICE PRESIDENT, HENRY WALLACE, WAS DETERMINED TO DISSOLVE THE
BRITISH EMPIRE AFTER THE WAR. HE WAS REPLACED BY HARRY TRUMAN, AND
PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT WAS ASSASSINATED ON APRIL 12, 1945.
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The planning for the assassination
of President Roosevelt began at the 1944 Democratic National Convention, held
in Chicago, Illinois, from July 19–21. President Roosevelt was running for
an unprecedented 4th term, and his popular Vice President was Henry A. Wallace.
President Roosevelt—the Commander in Chief of the U.S. Armed Forces—had trouble making decisions!
A less stressful
looking President Roosevelt making his State of the Union Address on
Jan. 11, 1944.
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On July
20, 1944, President Roosevelt gave his acceptance speech via
radio for an unprecedented 4th term from San Diego, California.
Roosevelt
was under tremendous pressure to dump his Vice President, Henry
Wallace, and replace him with "Assistant President" Jimmy Byrnes, so he stayed away
from the Convention.
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Life magazine's photo of Roosevelt making his nomination speech via
radio on July 20, 1944. The man seated on the left is Navy lieutenant
Dr. Howard Bruenn. |
In April 1944, President
Roosevelt was assigned a new doctor, a young Navy lieutenant named Dr. Howard
Brueen. It was very unusual that
the President would be accompanied by a low-ranking lieutenant. Obviously,
skill in the use of poison was all that was necessary for Dr. Bruenn.
Roosevelt stayed away
from the Convention because he was under tremendous pressure to get rid of
his faithful Vice President and replace him with "Assistant President"
Jimmy Byrnes. The President's wife Eleanor despised Jimmy Byrnes
and the aggressive Roman hierarchy, so the tug of war was putting tremendous stress
on the President.
Vice President Henry A.
Wallace was a plain spoken farmer's son from Iowa . . . and he was just too
honest to engage in the strong conspiracy. He fully expected to be re-nominated
for Vice President at the Convention.
Vice President Henry A. Wallace
(1888–1965). |
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In
July 1944, President Roosevelt was nominated for an unprecedented
4th term.
His
popular Vice President was named Henry A. Wallace.
A
ferocious fight broke out between the supporters of Wallace and
another aspirant named James F. "Jimmy" Byrnes. |
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We Want Wallace posters at the 1944 Democratic National Convention.
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MI6 agent Roald Dahl
became a close "friend" of Henry Wallace. Unknown to Wallace, Dahl
was spying on him and sending his private papers to Sir William Stephenson
at 30 Rockefeller Plaza:
Marsh had
given him a draft of a pamphlet written by his close friend Henry Wallace.
Entitled "Our Job in the Pacific," it summarized the vice president's
postwar goals, among them international control of the airways, economic assistance
for the industrial development of Asia, and the demilitarization of Japan.
Wallace was also in favor of 'the emancipation of colonial
subjects" in the British Empire, including India, Burma, and Malaya.
Dahl could feel his "hair stand on end." Dahl immediately realized
the document's importance, and knowing that his superiors would want to see
it, he excused himself saying that he was going to finish reading it downstairs.
He quickly phoned his BSC contact, explained the urgency of the situation,
and convinced him to meet him on the corner as soon as possible. The agent
knew something was up and materialized on the street in front of Marsh's house
in a matter of minutes.
Dahl sneaked out of the house and handed the document through his car window,
warning his partner in crime to be back in half an hour or there would be
hell to pay. "He flashed off," recalled Dahl, "and I'm around
downstairs, near the lavatory door, and if the chap upstairs had come down
looking for me saying, `have you finished reading it?' then I'd of been in
the lavatory you see, saying `I'm sorry I'm caught short."' As it turned
out, the agent went straight to the BSC's Washington offices to make copies
and made it back within the allotted time. Dahl nipped back out, collected
the paper, and no one was the wiser. (Conant, The Irregulars: Roald Dahl
and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington, pp. 121-122).
The British spy ring,
led by Dahl, made sure that Wallace was not re-nominated for Vice President.
RAF officer Roald Dahl
(1916–1990).
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RAF
officer Roald Dahl headed the British spy ring in Washington City.
His
cover was "author of childrens' books," but all his books were ghost written by MI6 employees in London.
Dahl
reported to Canadian Sir William Stephenson at the spymasters HQ, 630 5th Ave., Rockefeller Plaza, New York City.
Stephenson
in turn reported to Sir Stewart Menzies, who kept
Winston Churchill informed of everything that was happening
in Washington City . . . and throughout the United States.
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The Gremlins by Roald Dahl
was published in 1943.
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A ferocious fight broke
out in Chicago between the supporters of Vice President Wallace and the supporters
of Jimmy Byrnes. Everybody seemed to know that Roosevelt would not
survive his 4th term so his Vice President would become President.
James F. "Jimmy" Byrnes
(1882–1972).
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"Assistant
President" Jimmy Byrnes was determined to reach the White
House no matter what the cost.
The
refusal of President Roosevelt to make him his Vice President
was a staggering blow to his pride, so he tried to sneak in though
the back door via the position of Secretary of State.
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Byrnes' ambition was boundless. In 1943, he appeared on the cover of Time magazine.
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Jimmy Byrnes arrived at
the convention on the morning of July 20, fully confident that he would be
the next Vice President . . . and then the next President of the United States:
Across town Byrnes was enjoying a cheerful
breakfast with Mayor Kelly and Hannegan. They gave him some further details
of Roosevelt's reaction when FDR was told that the danger of losing the black
vote with Byrnes had been exaggerated. "Well, you know Jimmy has been
my choice from the very first," they quoted Roosevelt as having said
to them. "Go ahead and name him." Hannegan did add that Roosevelt
had requested that Byrnes' nomination first be discussed with the leadership
of the CIO at the convention, but this request was in Hannegan's opinion simply
a courtesy of prior notification. Later that same day, after Byrnes had left
the breakfast, Mayor Kelly met with Alben Barkley, majority leader of the
Senate, and the mayor told Barkley to pass the word that Roosevelt wanted
Byrnes and that "it was in the bag for Jimmy."
(Robertson, Sly and Able: A Political Biography of James
F. Byrnes. p. 354).
Byrnes was to face a big
disappointment however, as nothing could persuade the absent Roosevelt
to name him as his heir apparent.
Jimmy Byrnes was one of
the few people at the Convention who knew that a new deadly weapon called
the atomic bomb was under development. This weapon could change the course
of the war . . . and its sole possessor could rule the world unchallenged.
Fleet Admiral
William D. Leahy
(1875–1959).
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Admiral
Leahy was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff.
General
Leslie R. "Dick" Grove founded the Pentagon and he was
the driving force behind the development of the atomic bomb!!
Both
men were ardent supporters of Jimmy Byrnes for Vice President.
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General Leslie R. "Dick" Groves (1896–1970).
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Roosevelt would not give
his final word to Vice President Wallace . . . or Jimmy Byrnes . . . so a
compromise candidate was chosen named Harry Truman.
Truman came to the Convention
as an ardent Byrnes supporter and he had no real Presidential ambitions....Commander in Chief
Roosevelt could not make a decision, so Truman was nominated by default.
Harry Truman with his wife and daughter
at the 1944 Democratic Convention. |
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Truman
came to the Convention as an ardent Byrnes supporter.
When
Roosevelt refused to nominate Wallace or Byrnes, Truman was the
3rd choice.
Truman
was expected to be a good Byrnes puppet.
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Harry Truman (1883–1972). Vice President from July '44 to April
'45. |
Having failed
to gain the nomination, Jimmy Byrnes left the Convention in disgust....his Presidential
ambitions were still very much alive . . . and there was another door to the
Presidency: the office of Secretary of State.
Jimmy
Byrnes became Truman's Secretary of State!!
Just 2 hours after the
assassination, senator Harry Truman visited the White House to be sworn in
as the new President. No Bible could be found anywhere until the chief receptionist
located a Douay-Rheims Version in William Hassett's desk:
He looked
at the Chief Justice. Harlan Stone said that the chief receptionist had gone
to look for a Bible. Truman nodded. The clock on the wall pointed to 7:05.
The waiting time was an embarrassment. Bill Simmons
came back, saying that he had searched everywhere and had found a Roman Catholic
Bible in William Hassett's desk. Mr. Truman said
it would do. The Chief Justice motioned for the Truman women to come
closer. Harlan Stone intoned: "I, Harry Shippe Truman . . ." This
was wrong; the Chief Justice had been told that the S stood for Shippe, Truman's
grandfather's name. It stood for nothing. The new President had no middle
name. He said, "I, Harry S. Truman . . ." Less than two minutes
later, it was over. No one, including the Trumans, looked joyful. The handshaking
was solemn. Steve Early asked permission to bring the news photographers in.
The event, he thought, should be preserved for posterity. Truman had an appreciation
of that word. The cameramen came in. The photos they made show the wall clock
at 7:09 P.M. (Bishop, FDR'S Last Year, p. 609).
Then as now a real Bible
was a rare book in Washington City.
President Truman took the oath of office on the Douay-Rheims Version.
In the background can be seen the sinister Admiral Leahy.
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President
Truman was sworn in as President immediately after the assassination
of Roosevelt.
On
July 3, Truman announced that Byrnes would be his new Secretary
of State.
This
position put Byrnes just one heartbeat from the Presidency!!
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President Truman and his new Secretary
of State Jimmy Byrnes.
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By appointing
Jimmy Byrnes as Secretary of State, Truman was putting his own life at risk.
Here is the order of succession to the Presidency as it stood in 1945:
Act
of 1792 |
Act
of 1886 |
1. President. |
1. President. |
2. Vice President. |
2. Vice President. |
3. President
Pro Tempore of Senate. |
3.
Secretary of State. |
4.
Speaker of the House. |
4. Secretary
of the Treasury. |
Truman realized right
away that he could be the next Presidential victim of the poison cup . . .
so he called on Congress to immediately change the law back to the original
1792 order of succession.
Jimmy
Byrnes totally dominated President Truman!!
Truman knew
absolutely nothing about the atomic bomb . . . as Roosevelt had failed completely
to keep him in the loop.
Just as the
most destructive war in the history of the world was ending, the President
of the United States was taken on an ocean voyage . . . and then sightseeing
in Berlin, Germany!!
Admiral Leahy and Secretary of State Jimmy Byrnes with President Truman
aboard the Augusta on their way to Potsdam, Germany.
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On
July 8, 1945, Jimmy Byrnes took President Truman on an ocean voyage
and then sightseeing in Berlin.
This
was to prevent a delegation of atomic scientists from seeing the
President.
In
Berlin, Byrnes met Marshall Stalin and Stalin told him that he
believed Hitler was in Spain or Argentina.
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President Truman was touring Berlin with Byrnes and Leahy in
July 1945. Truman is on the left in the back seat next to Byrnes and
Leahy.
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On July 17, 1945, the
atomic bomb was tested for the SECOND time in Alamogordo, New Mexico.
The Pentagon was frantic
to get Japan to surrender before the Russians entered the war, and they were
itching to use their new super weapon to force a quick Japanese surrender!!
In order to prevent President
Truman from meeting with the atomic scientists, he was sent out of the country
to Potsdam, Germany, to meet with Stalin and Churchill. Unlike Roosevelt,
who flew to his meetings, Truman left by slow moving ship
on July 6, and did not return until August 7—the day after
the bombing of Hiroshima.
Atomic destruction of Hiroshima on
August 6, 1945.
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President
Truman did not return to the U.S. until August 7, the day after
the bombing of Hiroshima.
After
the bombing of Nagasaki, Truman ordered the Pentagon to stop bombing
without his permission.
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Atomic destruction of Nagasaki on
August 9, 1945.
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The real reason why the
bombs were used were to force the Japanese to surrender before the Soviet
had a chance to invade Manchuria and reoccupy the Kurile Islands, which were
lost to Russia during the Russo-Japanese War of 1905.
Truman
finally fired Jimmy Byrnes in 1947
In January 1947, President
Truman took a momentous step and fired Jimmy Byrnes. Congress finally passed
the succession act in 1947, and this removed the Secretary of State from 3rd
in line to the Presidency:
Act
of 1792 |
Act
of 1886 |
Act
of 1947 |
1. President. |
1. President. |
1. President. |
2. Vice President. |
2. Vice President. |
2. Vice President. |
3. President
Pro Tempore of Senate. |
3. Secretary
of State. |
3. Speaker
of the House. |
4.
Speaker of the House. |
4. Secretary
of the Treasury. |
4. President
Pro Tempore of Senate. |
By 1947, it was too late
to bring back the hundreds of thousands killed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Truman continued to be a puppet of the British by allowing Churchill to start
the Cold War and NATO (North Atlantic Terrorist Organization).
Truman was also a puppet
of the British by agreeing to the establishment of a British spying station
in the Mideast known as the state of "Israel."
After the assassination
of President Kennedy, the top secret 25th
Amendment was passed that allows the President to appoint his
Vice President.
Vital
links
References
Bishop,
Jim. FDR'S Last Year (April 1944–April 1945). William
Morrow & Co., New York, 1974.
Conant,
Jennet. The
Irregulars: Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington.
Simon & Schuster, New York, 2008.
Culver
John C, & Hyde, John, American Dreamer: the Life and Times of
Henry A. Wallace. W.W. Norton & Co., New York, 2000.
Klara
Robert, FDR's Funeral Train. Palgrave Macmillan, New York,
2010.
Persico,
Joseph E. Franklin & Lucy. Random House, New York, 2008.
Robertson,
David, Sly and Able: A Political Biography of James F. Byrnes.
W. W. Morton & Co., New York, 1994.
Walton,
Richard J. Henry Wallace, Harry Truman, and the Cold War. The
Viking Press, New York 1976.
Copyright
© 2017 by Patrick Scrivener
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