Henderson was ‘the first US ambassador to darken his door'

From Small Wars, Faraway Places by Michael Burleigh. Page 306.

In July 1948 Loy Henderson came to take up his last post prior to the Tehran appointment reviewed in Chapter Nine. He had been eased out of the Near Eastern and African Affairs department at State because of his refusal to subordinate US policy in the Middle East to the vocal Zionist lobby. On the way to New Delhi he stopped off in London. During a relaxed dinner with Foreign Secretary Bevin and senior Foreign Office officials, Bevin said of India: ‘There is a country where we must keep together, although you must let us be in the shop window.’ Aware that being seen to collaborate with the former imperial power would be the kiss of death in Indian eyes, Bevin joked that ‘If it is ever convenient for you to have a public row with [Sir Archibald] Archie Nye [Britain’s High Commissioner to India] then I’ll be happy to play that game with you.’ An early sign that Henderson’s new adventure would be difficult came when he called on Krishna Menon, the Indian High Commissioner to the Court of St James’s, who rose from his desk but did not offer to shake hands. He informed Henderson that he was ‘the first US ambassador to darken his door’, a theme he kept repeating, and would revert to when they met again six months later.