124.51/232a: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in France (Leahy)
925. The most effective measure that remains with us vis-à-vis the Vichy Government is the withdrawal of the American Ambassador and the breaking off of diplomatic relations with Marshal Petain’s Government. Should this break in relations become necessary we wish to make it clear that the issue is not with the French people but with the Vichy Government. In my opinion your main reasons for remaining in Vichy today are based on the two assurances given you personally by both Marshal Petain and Admiral Darlan regarding the use of the French fleet and French territory as bases for military operations. If either of these are violated or abrogated we would at once break off diplomatic relations. We are not prepared, however, to waste this forceful gesture of your withdrawal on such a minor issue as the abrogation of code privileges or circumscribed activity.
Should at any time you become convinced that one or both of the assurances above referred to have been violated, you are authorized, if you can no longer satisfactorily communicate with us by cable, immediately to call upon Marshal Petain and state that acting under instructions from your Government you must inform him that by reason of this violation the basis for further diplomatic relations between the United States and the Vichy Government no longer exists. You should then request your passports.
After you have reported to us we would have no objection to a full statement being made on your behalf and through such channels as you deem discreet at Vichy that the break in relations has been caused by the direct abrogation by certain French authorities of the agreements which these very authorities had voluntarily entered into with the United States and which no longer existed.