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to hold this.

Then we hit upon an idea and discussed it backwards and forwards among various people, including the Attorney General, the Solicitor General. What about asking a distinguished lawyer from outside the government entirely, having no connection whatever with the government, but a man of probity and distinction like Henry Stimson. I know I consulted Henry Stimson about this and I think I asked him if he would do it. He said, “I've taken your cases so many times, I can't do this.” He suggested two or three people, suggested that it should be somebody who had not been in the government. He thought he was unavailable because he was known as a Republican, had been in a Republican Cabinet, and if he cleared Bridges it would be difficult with the Republicans, and if he didn't, it would be regarded as biased.

At any rate, he recommended a number of people, among them Grenville Clark. I had an interview with Clark. Clark told me then what I hadn't known that he had been subject to these serious illnesses and temporary breakdowns so that he wasn't able to do anything for two or three months at a time. He was in a position where he did not dare undertake a responsible piece of public work where he had to carry the whole load