Is a Contradiction in Terms.
Groucho Marx
Jack had been sending reports to the Under Secretary of the Navy, Eugene Leutze, about his view of the war in Europe. Poland had been completely vanquished in just over a month. He reported that France was under real threat as well as Finland and Norway. His predictions proved correct.
Two days after Britain and France declared war on Germany the United States declared their neutrality.
That was not to say that America did not take a keen interest in the European conflict. She knew that whatever happened in Europe would have a major effect on the American economy. The Jewish lobby also was putting a great deal of pressure on Roosevelt and his administration.
Jack worked closely with MI6, the British secret service. America did not have a consolidated intelligence service, consequently each arm of the military were responsible for their own intelligence. Replication of information was prolific.
The first half of 1940 proved very successful for the Germans and disastrous for the Allies.
9th April 1940
Nazis invade Denmark and Norway.
10th May 1940
Nazis invade France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
15th May 1940
Holland surrenders to the Nazis.
Jack reported back to Washington.
June 19, 1940
Dear Sir,
As you are already aware, Nazi Germany has been successful in invading France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands in the last month. These gains on top of their previous conquests have given Nazi Germany control of vast natural resources to support their war effort. The British have a real fear that Hitler will mount an invasion in the next few months.
Britain and France have been our friends for many years and I do not think a German invasion would be in our best interests.
The Nazi war machine would be stopped in their tracks if it weren’t for the unrivalled production of trucks and other motor vehicles to transport troops and supplies.
American corporations, mainly Ford and General Motors, are producing those trucks and motor vehicles.
I am aware that Jim Mooney President of General Motors Overseas is on very friendly terms with Hitler who he as met several times.
I enclose a brief biography of Mooney and his activities of late.
Biography
James D. Mooney is a qualified engineer and corporate executive. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio on 18 February 1884. In 1908, he received a Bachelor of Science from the Case School of Applied Sciences in Mining and Metallurgy. Mooney left soon after graduation for gold mining expeditions in Mexico and California. Between 1910 and 1917, he worked successively at Westinghouse, B. F. Goodrich and Hyatt Roller Bearing Company during which time he became increasingly involved in corporate management. In 1917, at the age of thirty-three, he enlisted and served as a captain in France with the 309th Ammunition Regiment, 159th Field Artillery. At the close of the war, Mooney was named President and General Manager of the Remy Electric Company, a subsidiary of General Motors Corporation. In 1922, he became a Vice-President of GMC and President of General Motors Overseas, a company that trades in over one hundred countries. As part of his responsibilities in managing overseas production, Mooney has travelled extensively throughout the world, visiting GMC’s numerous manufacturing and assembly plants. In this capacity, he has been afforded the opportunity to meet with senior government officials and others in positions of power and influence.
My concern with Mooney relates to his quasi-official involvement in international affairs. He has been acting largely on his own volition, although it would seem with official sanction.
He believes he can apply methods of corporate negotiation to international moderation. He sees himself as a modern diplomat with his methods being used as the standard for all future diplomacy. Mooney has expressed the inadequacies of traditional diplomacy by arguing that diplomats are frequently ‘willing to risk millions of lives rather than to try to see the other side and to arrive at conclusions which involve some give-and-take on both sides, but which are cheaper than the resort to war.’
I have been able to determine whom Mooney met with while visiting Germany and England.
1. May 1939: Joe Kennedy and Helmuth Wohlthat meet in the spring of 1939.
Mooney was called to Germany to discuss a number of issues with the Nazi government pertaining to GMC’s Adam-Opel plant. In the process, he became aware of interest in securing gold loans in exchange for an agreement to stop Germany’s practice of subsidised exports and special exchange practices. It was Mooney who arranged a meeting between Ambassador Joseph Kennedy and Helmuth Wohlthat, a member of Goering’s staff working on Germany’s ‘Four Year Plan.’ The Meeting was held in London on May 9, 1939.
2. December 1939 and January 1940: Roosevelt-Mooney meetings.
Mooney has become convinced that hostilities in Europe could be subsided through the intercession of neutral third party moderation. It is my understanding that Mooney presented his views to President Roosevelt at two meetings, on December 22, 1939 and January 24, 1940. It is believed that President Roosevelt agreed to use Mooney’s influence to initiate ‘discussion’ on an informal basis.
3. March 1940: Hitler, Goering and Mooney meetings.
We know Mooney met with Hitler on March 4, 1939 and with Goering on March 7. The Hitler-Mooney meeting included Mooney’s presentation of Presidents Roosevelt’s ‘informal and unofficial attitudes’.
Hitler replied citing the ‘unfortunate rumours’ distorting German and American relations; the extent of Germany’s war aims; the unity of the German people behind the Reich; and the economic security of Germany, among other topics.
The Goering-Mooney meeting included a presentation of President Roosevelt’s views, a discussion of German and American relations, American public opinion regarding Finland and various economic issues, concentrating on most-favoured-nation practices.
I am sure you are aware Mooney received the German Eagle with Cross, the highest medal Hitler awarded to foreign commercial collaborators and supporters.
Mooney, albeit a staunch supporter of Hitler and his Nazi regime, is not the driving force behind General Motors’ commitment to produce motor vehicles for Germany’s war machine. It is Alfred P. Sloan President of General Motors headquartered in Detroit. His firm belief is that General Motors could and should create its own foreign policy, and back the Hitler regime even as we recoil from it.
‘Industry must assume the role of enlightened industrial statesmanship,’ Sloan declared in an April 1936 quarterly report to GM stockholders. ‘It can no longer confine its responsibilities to the mere physical production and distribution of goods and services. It must aggressively move forward and attune its thinking and its policies toward advancing the interest of the community at large, from which it receives a most valuable franchise.’
In ramping up auto production in the Nazi Reich, Sloan understands that he is not just manufacturing vehicles. Sloan and Hitler both know that GM, by creating wealth and shrinking unemployment, is helping to prop up the Hitler regime.
I am also concerned that powerful business people such as Mooney, Sloan and Ford are providing information and recommendations to our President.
I will be dispatching further reports on Ford and others who have very close ties to the Nazis in a few days.
Sincerely
J Doherty
Brigadier General