August 28, 1950
S/S
In a letter from the President dated Saturday, the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense were asked to designate officers to work on some problems enumerated in the letter. The Secretary replied in a memorandum dated Saturday designating Messrs. Perkins, Nitze and Byroade to act for State.
The President's letter indicated he wanted a report by September 1. He agreed to give Secretary Johnson until the day after Labor Day however. The letter was left to read September 1 and the President's agreement was verbal with Secretary Johnson.
Secretary Johnson asked Mr. Acheson to be sure that our people did not tell his people that the date was not still September 1. He said that he was letting his people function as though the September 1 deadline was in effect and he would give them additional time as required. Mr. Acheson said that he would instruct his staff immediately not to indicate that we had any longer than September 1 on this very important matter.
SLDBattle:ma