Office of the Historian

123 Bullitt, William C/31

Remarks of the American Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Bullitt) Upon the Presentation of His Letters of Credence to the President of the Soviet All-Union Central Executive Committee (Kalinin), at Moscow, December 13, 193345

Moscow, December 13, 1933

Mr. President: I have the honor to place in your hands the letters which accredit me as the first Ambassador of the United States of America to the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. I am charged by the President at the same time to convey to you his cordial and friendly greetings as well as his earnest hope for the welfare and prosperity of your great country.

I do not come to your country as a stranger. My profound interest in it has existed for many years and I come with a deep conviction of the importance and historic significance of my mission.

[Page 50]

That mission, Mr. President, is to create not merely normal but genuinely friendly relations between our two great peoples who for so many years were bound to each other by a tradition of friendship. The firm establishment of world peace is the deep desire of both our peoples and the close collaboration of our Governments in the task of preserving peace will draw our peoples together. Bound by the tie of their mutual desire for peace, our peoples will find many other fields for fruitful cooperation. Today each of our nations in its own manner is seeking with the same indomitable will and limitless energy, but by different methods, to promote the welfare of its people. This simultaneous effort, rather than a source of conflict, offers an opportunity for creative collaboration. Finally, our peoples are surely bound by the bond of a common youthful energy, a readiness to seek new ways to solve new problems and a courage to face the future unafraid.

Mr. President, in entering upon my mission, I wish to associate myself with the personal wishes I expressed to you on behalf of the President of the United States as well as with his wishes for the welfare and prosperity of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. I pledge you every effort within my powers to forge strong and enduring ties between our countries.

  1. Copy transmitted to the Department by the Ambassador in his despatch No. 1, December 14, 1933; received January 9, 1934.↩