[For context: Several leading figures in the US Government, towards the end of the Second World War, disagreed severely with postwar policy and the question of how Germany would be dealt with in defeat. In particular, Secretary of Treasury Henry Morgenthau, Jr. was heavily criticized for what was seen as overstepping the bounds of his post and insisting on draconian measures.**]
McCloy warned Stimson that with the election over, Morgenthau was back in business on Germany. Astonished, Stimson exclaimed, “He can’t keep his hands out of it! And he is going to get into trouble again, if he doesn’t look out.”
McCloy responded to the news by thinking up silly ways to pastoralize Germany and repeating them with guffaws to his friends. He knew that Morgenthau had transcripts made of his conversations. During one meeting with the Treasury Secretary, he pulled out a tiny spy camera and jocularly said, “Since you’ve been recording everything without our permission, I thought you wouldn’t mind if I did too!”
Source:
Beschloss, Michael R. “Lord Give the President Strength.” The Conquerors: Roosevelt, Truman, and the Destruction of Hitler's Germany, 1941-1945. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2007. 168. Print.
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