In mid-July 1977, Nathaniel Davis, the U.S. ambassador to Switzerland, was contacted by representatives of the Central Studio of Documentary Films in Moscow about sitting for an interview about “détente.” Ambassador Davis reported the contact in a telegram to the Department of State, copied to the U.S. embassy in Moscow for information. In discussing the … Continue reading Let’s Talk About Détente, 1977
On April 12, 1944, the U.S. legation in Jidda, Saudi Arabia, dispatched a despatch to the Department of State. Enclosed was a sealed envelope containing a letter from King Ibn Saud to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The legation was not provided with a copy of the letter, so it could not provide a translation along … Continue reading Presidential Humor, 1944
Remarks at Last Night's Oscars (National Archives Identifier 236685729) The month of March is traditionally the month in which the Academy Awards are presented in Hollywood. A search of the records of the National Register of Historic Places in the National Archives Catalog returns more than 650 results for the term “Hollywood,” including the Hollywood … Continue reading Light! Camera! Action! Records of the Movie Industry in the National Register of Historic Places
Last month, the National Archives joined the Naval History and Heritage Command and the Arlington National Cemetery in a commemoration of the sinking of the USS Maine in Havana harbor 125 years ago (February 15, 1898). Representatives of the three organizations discussed the historical context of the Maine’s visit to Cuba, the explosion and investigations, … Continue reading Department of State Records Relating to the Destruction of the USS MAINE
A fixture of U.S. foreign relations in the Twentieth Century has been the “special relationship” between the United States and Great Britain. Certainly since World War II, and perhaps even earlier, the diplomatic, cultural, economic, military, and intelligence cooperation and relationship between the two countries were unparalleled in modern history. Whether that remains true today … Continue reading Special Relationship? Probably Not in 1932
An earlier post discussed the Department of State reaction to the publication of The Invisible Government by David Wise and Thomas Ross. That book was one of the first “exposés” of Central Intelligence Agency activities. As the 60s wore on, critical books appeared in ever greater numbers, some penned by former CIA officers. One of … Continue reading The Department of State Reacts to Public Revelations of Intelligence Activities, 1969
Robert C. Toth during the "William Reilly at the LA Times Roundtable" discussion on C-SPAN, Oct 17, 1989 Noted journalist Robert C. Toth died on December 12, 2022. He was 93 years old. Toth was a reporter and foreign correspondent for the Los Angeles Times. He covered many important stories and won many awards for … Continue reading Interrogated! Robert Toth in Moscow, June 1977
To many, Mikhail Gorbachev seemed to come out of nowhere in 1985 to become the leader of the USSR. In some ways, his example supports the “great person” view of history, which is deeply ironic since he came out of the Marxist-Leninist milieu with its emphasis on the impersonal forces of history. Mikhail Gorbachev, 1987 … Continue reading Mikhail Gorbachev, 1931-2022
Situated as it is in the mid-Atlantic region, the weather in Washington, DC is extremely variable. The region experiences four distinct seasons a year, but within each season there can be wild swings in the weather. This is particularly true in winter and summer. During the winter, the city can experience days or weeks that … Continue reading Washington DC Weather and Diplomatic Protocol, 1959
An earlier post discussed a late 1949/early 1950 exchange of correspondence between the Department of Defense and the Department of State about potential international implications of the integration of the U.S. armed forces in the late 1940s. Defense officials wanted to know if there were “political objections to the stationing of individual Negroes or non-segregated … Continue reading The Question of Integrating U.S. Forces in Greenland, 1948
