TRUMAN IS CONVINCED A TOUGH POLICY TOWARD THE SOVIETS IS NECESSARY

CONFERENCE OPENS IN POTSDAM

Potsdam, Germany (JFK+50) On July 17, 1945, Allied representatives arrived here in Potsdam* to begin discussions on policies concerning postwar Europe.

The "Big Three" representing their respective nations included...  President Harry S Truman of the United States, Prime Minister Winston Churchill** of Great Britain and Premier Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union.

The conference began with an aura of suspicion as each of the Allied nations representatives had their own special interests.  Issues to be discussed included the postwar border of Poland, occupation of Austria and war reparations.

It is said that the conference convinced Mr. Truman that he would have to adopt a tough policy toward the Soviet Union.  The conference, which issued the Potsdam Declaration***, ended on August 2, 1945.

*Potsdam is the capital & largest city of the German federal state of Brandenburg.

**Mr. Churchill was replaced on July 26 by PM Clement Attlee.

***The Potsdam Declaration was a statement regarding the surrender of Japan in WWII.  It called for the unconditional surrender of all Japanese armed forces.

The Big Three at Potsdam

Churchill-Truman-Stalin

SURRENDER OF JAPAN

JAPAN SURRENDERED 70 YEARS AGO TODAY 

Tokyo, Japan (JFK+50) After atomic bombs were dropped by the United States on two of Japan's major cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki,  the Japanese Imperial government agreed seventy years ago today, August 10, 1945, to the terms of the Potsdam Declaration which provided for unconditional surrender.  The Japanese government refused, however, to accept any conditions that would "prejudice the prerogatives" of the emperor.

When this news reached the White House, President Harry Truman ordered an immediate halt to continued use of atomic weapons.   News of the surrender was not made public in Japan until August 15 when Emperor Hirohito gave his radio address.

Hirohito in Dress Uniform

1935

BABY PATRICK LAID TO REST 

Brookline, Massachsetts (JFK+50) The infant son of President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, was laid to rest here at Holyhood Cemetery in Brookline fifty-two years ago today, August 10, 1963.

Patrick, who was born five and a half weeks premature on August 7, died in the early morning hours of August 9, only 39 hours after birth.  The Kennedy baby died as a result of complications of hyaline membrane disease which is common in premature births.

The funeral mass, celebrated by Richard Cardinal Cushing, archbishop of Boston, at his residence, was attended only by members of the immediate Kennedy family.

According to David Powers, JFK put a gold Saint Christopher's Medal, which had been a present given to him by Jacqueline, inside the casket.

At graveside, President Kennedy "tightly gripped" Patrick's small white coffin.
Kenny O'Donnell and Dave Powers wrote...

"The loss of Patrick affected the President and Jackie more deeply than anybody except their closest friends realized."

A couple of months later, JFK left the Harvard-Columbia football game at halftime to visit Patrick's grave.  The President asked Kenny O'Donnell and Dave Powers to make sure he wasn't followed by the press.

Standing in the cemetery, looking down at the headstone marked KENNEDY, JFK said to Dave and Kenny...

"He seems so alone here."

After JFK's death and burial at Arlington National Cemetery, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy's remains were placed next to those of his father.

SOURCE

"Johnny We Hardly Knew Ye:  Memories of John Fitzgerald Kennedy," by Kenneth P. O'Donnell and David F. Powers, Little Brown and Company, Boston, 1970, 1972.

JFK Gravesite at Arlington

Photo by Kevin Rutherford (2010)

JAPAN SURRENDERS

JAPAN ACCEPTED TERMS OF SURRENDER 69 YEARS AGO 

Tokyo, Japan (JFK+50) After atomic bombs were dropped by the United States on two of Japan's major cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki,  the Japanese Imperial government agreed sixty-nine years ago today, August 10, 1945, to the terms of the Potsdam Declaration and accept unconditional surrender.

When this news reached the White House, President Harry Truman ordered an immediate halt to continued use of atomic weapons.

In a telegram sent to the President, while the Japanese agreed to accept unconditional surrender, they refused to accept any conditions that would "prejudice the prerogatives" of the emperor.

News of the surrender was not made public in Japan until August 15 when Emperor Hirohito gave his radio address.

Hirohito in Dress Uniform

1935

TRUMAN SIGNED NATIONAL SECURITY BILL 65 YEARS AGO

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) Sixty-five years ago today, August 10, 1949, and two years following the enactment of the National Security Act of 1947, the National Security Bill was signed into law at the White House by President Harry S Truman.

The bill, amending the National Security Act of 1947, established the Department of Defense and the office of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The 1st Secretary of Defense was Louis Johnson while the 1st Chairman of the Joint Chiefs was General Omar Bradley.

Truman Signs National Security Bill

August 10, 1949

Truman Library Photo

BABY PATRICK LAID TO REST 51 YEARS AGO

Brookline, Massachsetts (JFK+50) The infant son of President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, was laid to rest here at Holyhood Cemetery in Brookline fifty-one years ago today, August 10, 1963.

Patrick, who was born five and a half weeks premature on August 7, died in the early morning hours of August 9, only 39 hours after birth.

The Kennedy baby died as a result of complications of hyaline membrane disease which is common in premature births.

The funeral mass, celebrated by Richard Cardinal Cushing, archbishop of Boston, at his residence, was attended only by members of the immediate Kennedy family.

According to David Powers, JFK put a gold Saint Christopher's Medal, which had been a present given to him by Jacqueline, inside the casket.

At graveside, President Kennedy "tightly gripped" Patrick's small white coffin.
Kenny O'Donnell and Dave Powers wrote...

"The loss of Patrick affected the President and Jackie more deeply than anybody except their closest friends realized."

A couple of months later, JFK left the Harvard-Columbia football game at halftime to visit Patrick's grave.  The President asked Kenny O'Donnell and Dave Powers to make sure he wasn't followed by the press.

Standing in the cemetery, looking down at the headstone marked KENNEDY, JFK said to Dave and Kenny...

"He seems so alone here."

After JFK's death and burial at Arlington National Cemetery, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy's remains were placed next to those of his father.

SOURCE

"Johnny We Hardly Knew Ye:  Memories of John Fitzgerald Kennedy," by Kenneth P. O'Donnell and David F. Powers, Little Brown and Company, Boston, 1970, 1972.

JFK Gravesite at Arlington

Photo by Kevin Rutherford (2010)