Sumner Welles

Benjamin Sumner Welles (October 14, 1892 - September 24, 1961) was an American government official and diplomat in the Foreign Service. He was a major foreign policy adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and served as Under Secretary of State from 1937 to 1943, during FDR's presidency.

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Documents about Sumner Welles

Wednesday 7th February 1940

Meeting minutes

extract President Roosevelt sends Sumner Welles peace mission to European capitals
person Sumner Welles
person Adolf Hitler
place Great Britain
place Finland
place Russian Empire
place Vatican City
place Europe
place Berlin
place Washington
 

Meeting minutes

extract Two U-Boats sunk. Opposition Leaders express concern Norwegian blockade would represent lowering of UK’s “moral stature”
person Anthony Eden
person Edward Bridges, 1st Baron Bridges
person John Anderson, 1st Viscount Waverley
person Sumner Welles
person Samuel Hoare
person Richard Kiel
person Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.
place Finland
place Europe
place Berlin
place Tokyo
place Rome
place Iran
 

Meeting minutes

extract PM Chamberlain directs Cabinet to abandon plan to mine Norwegian waters. Winston Churchill registers his opposition
person Edward Bridges, 1st Baron Bridges
person Sumner Welles
person Winston Churchill
place Finland
place Europe
place Oslo
 

Saturday 2nd March 1940

Meeting minutes

extract US military attaché requests data on British forces and plans. Cabinet directs Foreign Office to refuse
extract German attacks on shipping now reaching as far west as Isle of Wight. UK has no technology to intercept night air attacks
person Anthony Eden
person Edward Bridges, 1st Baron Bridges
person John Anderson, 1st Viscount Waverley
person Sumner Welles
person John Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort
person Samuel Hoare
person John Simon, 1st Viscount Simon
person Oliver Stanley
person Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim
person Woodrow Wilson
place Heligoland
place Finland
place Europe
organisation New Zealand Treasury
organisation RAF Coastal Command
organisation French Army
 

Meeting minutes

extract Notes on recent meetings: “very strong smell of rum”. “Loud laughter”. French anxious to postpone Rhine mining
person Hastings Ismay, 1st Baron Ismay
person Sumner Welles
place Finland
 

Meeting minutes

extract PM on Sumner Welles mission: “aiming for the impossible”. No peace without “real change of outlook in Germany”
person Sumner Welles
person Adolf Hitler
person Harold Wilson
person Joachim von Ribbentrop
place Great Britain
place Finland
place Halifax Peninsula
place Singapore
place Europe
place Berlin
place Rome
organisation New Zealand Treasury
organisation Air Force F.C.
organisation RAF Coastal Command
organisation Parliament of the United Kingdom
organisation Foreign Office (Germany)
organisation Canadian Forces Maritime Command
 

Meeting minutes

extract “Berlin better blacked out than London” says US envoy. Ambassador to Vatican reports Hitler and Mussolini to meet shortly
person Alexander Cadogan
person Edward Bridges, 1st Baron Bridges
person Sumner Welles
person Samuel Hoare
person Adolf Hitler
person Joachim von Ribbentrop
place Finland
place Vatican City
place Hong Kong
place Singapore
place Turkey
place Berlin
place Rome
organisation Luftwaffe
organisation Foreign and Commonwealth Office
 

Meeting minutes

extract Cabinet approves development of standard men’s suit to save wool. Halifax warns against “depression” over policy failures
person Sumner Welles
person Harold Wilson
person Frederick Marquis, 1st Earl of Woolton
place New York, Lincolnshire
place Finland
place Halifax Peninsula
place Brussels
place Turkey
place Europe
place West Germany
organisation House of Commons of the United Kingdom
organisation Scapa
 

The Grand Strategy of the Allies.

extract Easter break continues. Lord Hankey circulates his notes on the direction of Allied strategy: “continue static warfare”
person Sumner Welles
place Greece
place Finland
place Russian Empire
place Gisborne, New Zealand
place Hungary
place Turkey
place Bulgaria
place West Germany
organisation Air Force F.C.
organisation Royal Marines
 

Friday 26th July 1940

The Baltic States.

extract Lord Halifax recommends British government refuse to recognise USSR's occupation by "force and fraud" of Baltic States
person Sumner Welles
person Joseph Stalin
person E. F. L. Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax
place Finland
place East Germany
place Albania
organisation Bank of England
 

Thursday 26th June 1941

Meeting minutes

extract Attlee to nominate representatives from industry for Mission to United States. "Very unfortunate" details leaked to Press
extract Eden: Russians have bombed Finnish aerodromes. Prospects of Finnish neutrality being maintained "not very bright"
extract Eden: Spanish government apologises, promises compensation for damage to British Embassy Madrid in "organised riot"
extract General Dill: "Stiff fighting in Syria". Damascus and Merjayoun now in our hands. Have advanced 10-12 miles toward Beirut
extract General Dill: No first-hand information from USSR. Germans making some progress but Old Russian frontier not yet reached
person Walter Hines Page
person Duff Cooper
person Walter Citrine, 1st Baron Citrine
person Sumner Welles
place Finland
place Cranborne
place Madrid
place Moscow
place Turkey
place Gibraltar
place London, Ontario
place Beirut
place Syria
place Greenwood, Nova Scotia
place Madrid, New York
organisation House of Commons of the United Kingdom
organisation Hopatcong High School
organisation House of Lords