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Robert L. Dennison Oral History Interview

   

Oral History Interviews with
Admiral Robert L. Dennison

Graduate of U.S. Naval Academy, 1923; Assistant Chief of Naval Operations, 1945-47; Commander of the U.S.S. Missouri, 1947-48; Naval Aide to President Harry S. Truman,1948-53; Commander in Chief of the Atlantic Command, Commander of the Atlantic Fleet, and Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic, 1960-63.
 
Interview Transcripts
September 10, 1971 | October 6, 1971 | November 2, 1971
By Jerry N. Hess
 
[Notices and Restrictions | List of Subjects Discussed]

 


NOTICE
These are transcripts of tape-recorded interviews conducted for the Harry S. Truman Library. A draft of each transcript was edited by the interviewee but only minor emendations were made; therefore, the reader should remember that these are essentially transcripts of the spoken, rather than the written word.

Numbers appearing in square brackets (ex. [45]) within the transcript indicate the pagination in the original, hardcopy version of the oral history interview.

See also Robert L. Dennison Papers and Files.

RESTRICTIONS
These oral history transcripts may be read, quoted from, cited, and reproduced for purposes of research. They may not be published in full except by permission of the Harry S. Truman Library.

 


 

List of Subjects Discussed

 

 
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X-Y-Z

 

Abramson, Howard, 30
Acheson, Dean, 143, 144
Air Force, Department of, role of, 173-175
Anderson, Vernice, 150, 151, 162
Atomic bomb, use of, against Japan, 78-80
Atomic-bomb attack, plans for evacuation, 97-101

Begley, Paul, as photographer, 205, 206
Bohlen, Charles, 82, 83
Bradley, General Omar, 104-106, 154
Burke, Admiral Arleigh, 138-139

Cabinet meetings, 185-188
Carey, Idaho, and Presidential campaign of 1948, 44-46
Carlton Club, 84-85
Cates, General Clifton B., 132, 133, 134, 135
Chiang Kai-shek, 71-73, 75
Chiang Kai-shek, Madame, 72-73
China postwar, 71-76
Chungking, China, 71-73
Churchill, Winston, visit in 1952, 205-207
Civil rights, 190
Clifford, Clark, 180

  • as poker player, 95

Cochrane, Vice Admiral Edward L., appointment as first Federal Maritime Administrator, 35-41
Committee of Three, 11
Connelly, Matthew, 50

Containment policy, 128
Conway, Rose, 88

Denfeld, Admiral Louis E., resignation of, 140-142
Dennison, Admiral Robert L.:

  • appointment as Naval Aide to the President, 37-39
    and auto accident, near Tokyo, 64-65
    background of, 1-2
    and China, People's Republic of, 128-130
    duties as Naval Aide, 101-106, 183
    and Eisenhower, General Dwight D., 157-158, 178
    and Forrestal, James, 7-10, 11, 13, 14-15, 22-25
    and Kennan, George, 124-127
    and Landry, General Robert B., 179
    MacArthur, General Douglas, attends ceremony honoring, 155-156
    and maritime affairs, 33-35, 198-200
    and Missouri, U.S.S., 3-6, 11, 189-190
    and racial segregation, views on, 189-190, 192-193
    and Rigdon, Commander William, 179-180
    Truman, Harry S., first meeting with, 2-3
    and staff assistants to Naval Aide, 182
    and Vaughan, Harry, 175

Early, Stephen, and appointment as Under Secretary of Defense, 18, 19-20
Eisenhower, General Dwight D.:

  • and return from Europe in 1952, 156-158
    and Truman, Harry S., at funeral of President John F.Kennedy, 207-211

Federal Maritime Administrator, appointment of first, 35-37
Forrestal, James V., 2, 3, 7-10, 11, 13, 14-15, 16, 17, 20-28, 186

Foskett, Rear Admiral James H., 41, 42
French Indo-China, U.S. aid to, 121-124

Gates, Artemus, 3, 72
Graham, Dr. Wallace, 89

Hiroshima, Japan, 63-34
Hydrogen bomb, decision to develop, 80-82

Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, 3-4

Japan, plans to invade, 78-79
Japan, postwar, 63-66
Johnson, Louis, 31, 120, 121, 167, 168, 171

  • and resignation, as Secretary of Defense136-140, 143, 146
    and U.S.S. United States controversy, 107-110
    and Veterans Administration hospitals controversy, 15, 17, 19, 28

Jones, Roger, 33

Kennan, George, 124-127
Key West, and "Little White House,", 53-55, 87-92
Korean conflict, entry of United States forces, 114-119

Landry, General Robert B., 40, 41, 179
Lovett, Robert, 146, 147

MacArthur, General Douglas, dismissal of, 150-151, 152-154
Maritime Administration', creation of, 34-37
Maritime Commission, and subsidy controversy, 33
Marshall, George C., 145

Matthews, Francis P., 15, 139, 140, 141-143
Missouri, U.S.S., 3-4, 11

Mitzzher, Admiral Marc, 138, 139

Nagasaki, Japan, 63-64
Navy, Secretaries of, rated by Robert L. Dennison, 16-17
Nimitz, Admiral Chester, 8-9, 11

Pauley, Edwin W., and nomination as Under Secretary of the Navy, 60-63, 72, 74
Peking, China, 66-71
Photograph, Harry S. Truman and Winston Churchill, aboard Williamsburg, 206-207
The Pope, Stalin’s comment on, at Potsdam, 82-83
Presidential campaign of 1948, June trip, 42-47

Racial segregation and the Navy, 188-190
Reid, Helen Ogden, 26, 27
Reparations, Chinese, from Japan, 72-75
"Revolt of the Admirals", 166-171
Rigdon, Commander William, 53, 179-180
Rio de Janeiro and Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, 3-4
Ross, Charles G., 40, 41
Rusk, Howard, 29

Shangri-La, 92-94, 100
State, War and Navy Coordinating Committee, 9
Stowe, David, 100, 182
Sullivan, John L., 10, 13, 17, 41, 57-58

Symington, Stuart, as poker player, 95

Tito, Marshal Josip, 5-7
Transition between Truman and Eisenhower administrations, 197-198
Truman, Harry S.:

  • and Acheson, Dean, 144-145
    assassination attempt, 163-164
    Cabinet meetings, 185-188
    candidacy for re-election in 1952, declines, 193-195
    Carey, Idaho, speech in 1948, 44-46
    China policy, 76-77
    and Churchill, Winston, on visit in January 1952, 205-207
    civil rights, 190-192
    and Cochrane, Admiral Edward L., 36-37
    decision-making, 188
    and Dennison, Robert L., 47-48, 51-52, 55
    education of, 48
    and Eisenhower, Dwight D., 156-161, 207-211
    estimation of, 212-214
    ethics in politics, 203-205
    and family values, 201-203
    and Forrestal, James V., 22-24
    gift of flags to children of Admiral Dennison, 201-203
    and Holmes, Justice Oliver Wendell, 191-192
    intellectual attributes of, 48-52
    and Johnson, Louis, 29
    MacArthur, General Douglas, dismissal of, 150-151, 152-154, 155-156
    Marine Corps, reacts to controversy concerning “propaganda” of, 130-136
    and Marshall, George C., 164-166
    Missouri, U.S.S., aboard, in 1947, 4-6
    and motorcade incident,164-166
    and Naval Aide, duties of, 104-106
    personality of, 103, 201-203
    photographed, with Winston Churchill, aboard Williamsburg, 206-207
    as poker player, 90-92, 94, 95-96
    and Presidential campaign of 1948, predicts own election, 55, 86
    and the Presidential role in nominating conventions, 196-197
    and Presidential roles, 49-52
    recreational interests, 94
    speech endorsing, inadvertently, Republican congressional candidate in 1948, 46
    and Tito, Marshal Josip, 5-7
    and Twain, Mark, 191
    and Veterans Administration hospitals controversy, 29-32
    Wake Island conference, 148-150, 151, 162
    and Wallace, Henry A., 59
    and Williamsburg yacht, 89, 92, 94, 95, 96, 100

Truman, Mrs. Harry (Bess), 111-113
Trusteeship of former Japanese mandate, by United States, 13-14
Twain, Mark, 191

Unification of armed services, 17-19, 21, 167-175

Vardaman, Commander James K., 178-179
Vaughan, Harry H., 16, 31, 39, 53, 203-204

  • and controversy over Defense Aide position, 40-41
    and role as Military Aide, 175-177

Veach, Mrs. John B., 111-112
Veterans Administration hospitals, controversy concerning, 29-32

Wake Island conference, 147, 148-150, 151, 162
Wallace, Henry A., and his Madison Square Garden speech in 1948, 57-59
Warren, Lindsay, 34-35
White House staff meetings, 181-182, 184
Williamsburg, 205-206
Winkler, Beriace L., 89

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