8 Friday, December 16, 1977 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS IBM Jacobson Role Influencing Truman Affirmed frewritersSelectric etc. 5 400 Add 'n Type 342•7800 399-8333 342-1221 "Conflict and Crisis - by Robert J. Donovan (W.W. Norton & Co.), which de- HARRY ABRAM SELLS MORE Because He Gives Discount On Your Track Service 35300 GRAND RIVER FARMINGTON HILLS 478-0500 scribes "The Presidency of Harry S. Truman, 1945- 1948," stirred a hornet's nest with recollections of Truman's anger over Jew- ish pressures in behalf of the Zionist cause. Actually, they are repeti- tious. It was known that Truman was embittered when the pressures became too numerous and involved mass action. There have been dis- crepancies in views regard- ing the Truman attitude. Clark Clifford, who was one of the top Truman advisers and an important figure in his administration's han- dling of the Palestine issue, maintained, writing in American Heritage last April, • that support of the Zionist cause became an ideal for the President. He was the first to recognize the proclamation of the Pia et • Patek Philippe • Ro ex • Cartier Bueche-Girod • Corum • Concord Longines Wittnauer • Seiko • St. Thomas Lenox • Dunhill • ArtCarved Manufacturers of Original & Unusual Creations •Authorized Appraisers Estate Liquidators Jewelry Designers Special Hours Mon. - Fri. 9:30 - 7:30 • Saturday 5:30 - 5:30 851-7333 31313 Northwestern Farmington Hills tot or anything approaching EDDIE JACOBSON state of Israel because he would not betray his trust to his friends and especially the assurances he had given of his support for the cause to Dr. Chaim Weizmann. But Clark Clifford also contended that Eddie Jacob- son had not exerted any influence upon Truman, and this stirs up an interesting controversy. (See The Jew- ish News issues of May 13 and 20). The controversy stems from the Clifford statement which negates Donovan's views on the Jacobson role. Donovan is emphatic in his acceptance of the oft-re- peated declarations that Ja- cobson refused to meet with Dr. Weizmann, who headed the World Zionist Organiza- tion and was soon to become the first President of Israel. In "Conflict and Crisis," Donovan wrote: Entering the Oval Room, the two men began their talk, as customary, by ex- changing news about their families. Then Jacobson mentioned Palestine to Tru- man. "He immediately became tense in appearance, abrupt in speech, and very bitter in the words he was throwing my way," Jacobson re- called in his account of the episode. "In all the years of our friendship he never talked to me in this manner e have the oldest and one of the largest Trust Departments in Michigan. Let our years of experience go to work for you. You ought to know a DETROIT BANK-er better. DETROIT BANK Ey TRUST Member FDIC Trust offices in Detroit, Birmingham, Gaylord and East Tawas. The Indian head leads you to Detroit's first family of banks/DETROITBANK CORPORATION Truman told Jacobson he did not want to discuss Pa- lestine or the Jews or the Arabs or the British: Jacobson would not yield. He reminded Truman of the admiration the President had expressed for Weiz- mann. Jacobson said that Weizmann was old and ill and had made a long trip to the United States to see the President. Truman's in- dignation had not subsided, however. "He replied how dis- respectful and how mean certain Jewish leaders had been to hirti," Jacobson re- called. "I suddently found myself thinking that my dear friend, the President of the United States, was at that moment as close to being an anti-Semite as a man could possibly be and I • was shocked that some of our own Jewish leaders should be responsible for Mr. Tru- man's attitude." In his despair he noticed, as he had on previous occa- sions, the model of an equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson on a table at the west side of the room. Ja- cobson suddenly found him- self pointing to the statue and telling Truman that just as Truman had a hero in Andrew Jackson so, too, did Eddie Jacobson have a hero in Chaim Weizmann. "Now," he went on, "you refuse to see him because you were insulted by some of our American Jewish leaders, even though you know that Weizmann had absolutely nothing to do with these-insults and would be the last man to be a party to them. It doesn't sound likeyou, Harry, be- came I thought you 'could take this stuff they have been handing out to you." Jacobson noticed that Truman had begun drumm- ing on the desk. Truman swung around in his swivel chair and gazed out on the Rose Garden. Suddenly, he swirled back and looked Ja- cobson in the eye. "You win, you bald-head- ed son of a bitch," he said. "I will see him." To the credit of the Bnai Brith leadership, which asked Jacobson to inter- cede, it should be said that it has consistently linked Ja- cobson with Truman in the audience the President had given to Dr. Weizmann. Some time before the pub- lication of Donovan's book and before the appearance of the Clark Clifford article in American Heritage, Sam- uel Leib submitted the evi- `dence to Jacobson's appeals to Truman. In a statement to this reviewer Leib wrote: "It was a well-known fact that Dr. Weizmann was in Washington for three weeks in March of 1948 trying to see then-President Harry S. Truman, using all his im- PRESIDENT TRUMAN portant Zionist connections, but to no avail. "Finally, he recalledthat he had not seen Maurice Bisgyer, then executive vice president of Bnai Brith. He went to the Bnai Brith office and threw his arms around Maurice Bisgyer, a man of about 5 feet 4 inches tall, cried and said, "Moshe, ich bin ahf tsoures; I've been in Washington for three weeks, used all my Zionist con- nections and could not get an appointment to see the President." Bisgyer then said, "Dr. Weizmann, why didn't you see me first? I can get you in to see the President very quickly." Dr. Weizmann asked, - How?" The re- sponse came, "through Ed- die Jacobson, he's the clos- est friend of President Truman, and a devoted and loyal member of Bnai Brith, the only Jewish organization to which he belongs." Appended to Leib's state- ment were excerpts from Margaret Truman's biogra- phy of her father sub- stantiating the Jacobson sto- rY. This reviewer sent the data to Clifford on Aug. 10. There was no reply. The evidence seems to be effective in the statement by Samuel Leib, who was a national Bnai Brith leader representing Detroit and who became president of District 6 of Bnai Brith; and that of Donovan in "Conflict and Crisis." ADL Approves 3 Resolutions NEW YORK — The na- tional commission of the' Anti-Defamation League - of Bnai Brith has approved three resolutions supporting appropriate action against teachers who teach or pro- mote anti-Semitism or any other form of bigotry..., op- posing a proposed Con- stitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral Col- lege in presidential elec- tions, and a six-point ADL action program to increase the general public's aware- ness of the various aspe-cts of the world energy problem and to help develop solu- tions to achieve American energy independence' and conservation.