June 23, 1944.
Dear General:
This will follow up my telephone conversation with you this afternoon regarding my desire to enter the Navy.  The proposal that I outlined to the President on my conversation with him this afternoon is as follows:
About December 1st of this year myself, Congressman Gore of Tennessee, and Congressman Jackson of Washington are desirous of entering the Armed Forces.  It is understood that each Member entering the service would have a Member of the opposite political party enter the service at the same time, so that the relative standing of the Democratic and Republican Parties in the House would be the same.
In order to overcome the objection previously raised by the President regarding the entrance of Members of Congress into the Armed Forces, it is understood that we will defer taking our Oath of Office as Members of Congress for the new term until after our return from the services.  Under the rules of the House of Representatives, a Member of Congress does not hold his office until he takes the oath, and, consequently, we will have met the previous objections raised by the Attorney General in a letter to the President in January of this year.
I wish to advise you that the above proposal has been concurred in by the Speaker, Mr. Sam Rayburn, and the Minority Leader, Mr. Joe Martin.
If this proposal is approved by the President, I will not resign this coming week from Congress, but will be willing to defer such action on the acceptance of this proposal.  Otherwise, it is my intention to resign on Wednesday, and enter the service on Friday, of this coming week.
You may contact me at Gaspee 3341, Room 200 Custom House, Providence, Rhode Island, on or after Monday, June 26, 1944, and I will get in touch with Mr. Jackson and Mr. Gore.
In order to avoid any immediate difficulty, I would strongly suggest that this order not be made public until its effective date, namely about December first.
Sincerely yours,
John E. Fogarty, M.C.