#3-448
Memorandum for Mr. Elmer Davis
December 12, 1942 [Washington, D.C.]
Secret
Subject: Public Relations situation in North Africa.
I am inclosing copies of two messages which have just come in from General Eisenhower explanatory of the situation regarding Press relations and regarding the matter of political refugees.1
I hope you will read these personally and find it possible to help Eisenhower out in these matters. I am very much worried over the terrific pressure being put on him more or less to do the impossible, when what we want him to do is to win the fight in Tunisia, safeguard our situation against a German rush through Spain and keep the tribes in North Africa quiet. As he indicates, there seems to be no conception here or in England of the fact that he has not the facilities of Cairo or London or Washington and that he has a terrific communication problem with the Army in Tunisia and with the diplomatic business he has had to transact with England and the United States.
I want to give him a chance to do what he was sent to Africa to do and I hope you can find some way to take off the pressure and bring the Press to a practical realization of his difficulties, without advertising them to the enemy.2
Document Copy Text Source: George C. Marshall Papers, Pentagon Office Collection, Selected Materials, George C. Marshall Research Library, Lexington, Virginia.
Document Format: Typed memorandum.
1. Marshall sent the director of the Office of War Information Eisenhower's message No. 1674 (a description of his difficulties regarding signals communications and his efforts to overcome them) and No. 1705 (transmitting a message from his brother, Milton Eisenhower, associate director of the Office of War Information, to Davis explaining that French authorities in North Africa had freed the political refugees they had interned and that they were rapidly liberalizing the anti-Jewish rules imposed by the Vichy government). Both documents are dated December 11, 1942, and are in GCMRL/G. C. Marshall Papers (Pentagon Office, Selected).
2. The following day Marshall repeated the contents of this memorandum to Eisenhower in Algiers, adding: "This morning Mr. Davis acknowledged receipt of my letter and stated that his office will do what it can to help spread an understanding of your difficulties. He also stated that the message from Milton Eisenhower convinced him that arrangements will be as satisfactory as possible. A confidential memorandum from Surles to all newspapers also explained the contents of your messages. I intend to continue giving you every support in this difficult situation." (Marshall to Eisenhower, Radio No. 159, December 13, 1942, GCMRL/G. C. Marshall Papers [Pentagon Office, Selected].)
Recommended Citation: ThePapers of George Catlett Marshall, ed.Larry I. Bland and Sharon Ritenour Stevens (Lexington, Va.: The George C. Marshall Foundation, 1981– ). Electronic version based on The Papers of George Catlett Marshall, vol. 3, “The Right Man for the Job,” December 7, 1941-May 31, 1943 (Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991), pp. 480–481.