6: Men and Women of Letters

On a diplomatic level, General Marshall agreed to use Pawley for short missions such as “negotiations to secure military installations, particularly bomber bases, in Spain.”1 There also is considerable evidence in The Pawley Collection at The George C. Marshall Library in Lexington, Virginia, that Marshall came to treat Pawley as a friend and corresponded often with Pawley and his wife, Edna, until Marshall’s death a decade later.

A September 4, 1947 telegram was sent from Washington addressed “Personal for Ambassador Pawley from General Marshall” which stated that “Katherine and I repeat again our heartfelt appreciation for the bountiful hospitality of your Edna and you and of your untiring efforts in our behalf.” Marshall asked Pawley to “make my compliments to the President and Mrs. Truman and to Margaret” and noted President Truman “is famous this morning as a mountain climber and orchid fancier meanwhile I have Lovett waiting at my side with the multitudinous details of a sick world.” Lovett signed the telegram.2

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