President Truman's relief of General Douglas MacArthur purposes is [just temporarily] allied with Soviet Russia." If MacArthur's thesis was accepted, then it followed that expanding the war with China would not provoke a conflict with the Soviet Union. The Joint Chiefs emphatically disagreed, although this contradicted their position that it was Europe and not Asia that was the prime concern of the Soviet Union. Even among Republicans, there was little support for MacArthur's position. On 5 April, Martin read the text of a letter he had received from MacArthur, dated 20 March, criticizing the Truman administration's priorities on the floor of the House. In it, MacArthur had
Vice-President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State Vice-President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State The Vice-President of the Executive Council () was the deputy prime minister of the 1922–1937 Irish Free State, and the second most senior member of the Executive Council (cabinet). Formally the Vice-President was appointed by the Governor-General on the "nomination" of the President of the Executive Council, but by convention the Governor-General could not refuse to appoint a Vice-President who the President had selected. Under Article 53 of the Free State constitution the role of the Vice President was to "act for all purposes in the place of the President",