James Grover McDonald

Schacht then President of Reichsbank had come to America to talk to President Roosevelt and the Secretary of State Hull about the current Germany situation. Roosevelt voiced concerns about the Jewish persecution going on in Germany, but was eager to mend economic ties. Also at the meeting Schacht dropped the bomb - Germany was running out of finances and would soon be defaulting on all external loans. Roosevelt’s response was “Serves the Wall Street bankers right!”. Hull was more concerned with this news and the affects that it would have on the depression ravaged American economy.

Schacht also met with President of RCA David Sarnoff and other prominent Jewish group heads including Stephen Wise. Schacht repeated the Nazi rhetoric that what was happening inside of Germany was not the concern of foreigners. The talks broke down and went nowhere - especially seeing that the Jews knew that the boycott was crippling Germany’s economy.

When Schacht was leaving he was contacted by James McDonald on behalf of the Foreign Policy Association. McDonald stated that France was talking about invading Germany and dividing up the country if the Jewish persecution continued. The information was relayed to Hitler after Schacht was back on the boat to Germany.