Eden also noted that the American president was "vague and loose and ineffective”, letting the discussion drift on, without being able to pin Stalin and Churchill down to firm and precise terms. The various questions on the agenda were discussed unmethodically, by fits and starts, and Harry Hopkins several times had to bring the discussion back to the subject by passing notes to Roosevelt. But the bias of these notes can easily be guessed, as in spite of the troublesome state of his health, the so-called eminence grise of the White House was still strongly pro-Soviet.
Secretary of State Stettinius was too new in his job to know how to assert himself usefully in the discussion. As for the fourth member of the American delegation, the diplomat Alger Hiss, whose particular responsibility was questions relating to the future United Nations Organisation, he was later condemned to five years’ imprisonment on January 22, 1950 by a New York court for perjury about his Communist associations.
Another circumstance played against the two Western powers; this was the ten day period allowed by the American constitution to the President to approve or veto bills adopted by the Congress. As he could not do this by cable or radio, it was essential for him not to prolong his stay in the Crimea beyond a week. Stalin, however, was in no hurry and was ready to sell Roosevelt time in exchange for concessions.
World History
