George Edward Creel to Woodrow Wilson

I am attaching(1) A request for the allotment of one million dollars to this Committee for Russian purposes;(2) A suggested letter to Mr. Thompson for your signature;(3) A letter to Mr. Sisson.

The million is to cover the purchase of motion picture equipment, material, etc., in this country, expenses of people going across, the distribution campaign in Russia, our cable service, and other uses indicated by you in our conversation of yesterday. Every cent will be guarded and accounted for, and it is not my idea that we should make any considerable grant or gift to anyone.

Please do not feel that I have made any mistake in the selection of Mr. Sisson. He is a twenty thousand dollar-a-year executive; he gave up everything to serve his country. He is an organizing genius, a man of the highest ideals, and has more real moral courage than almost anyone I know. It means double work for me to let him go, but he is the only one in whom I have absolute trust. You see, I do not want a man for display purposes, but one who will slip in to Russia, see the necessary people, organize the cable, feature, motion picture services, define clearly just what we want and what we do not want, and then slip out again.

I think that every minute counts, and if you approve, and have time to sign these papers, I will send Mr. Sisson to New York tonight to sail at once. In case you wish to see me about these matters, I am holding myself ready to answer a telephone call. Dr. Mott and Mr. McCormick are going to be with me all afternoon.

The President,
The White House,
Washington, DC