Brigadier General Courtney Whitney, the Chief of Government Section, sent this memorandum to MacArthur explaining that GHQ had the authority to revise the Constitution if it was done before the Far Eastern Commission made its policy decision for constitutional revision. At the beginning of 1946, when the Far Eastern Commission (FEC) was about to be established on February 26, Whitney and his staff became aware of the commission's strong interest in the constitutional revision problem in a meeting with the Far Eastern Advisory Commission (FEAC), the forerunner of the FEC. February 1, the day this document was written, was a turning point for the creation of the GHQ draft, and it was the same day on which the article appeared in the Mainichi Newspaper. GHQ, with the decision to move forward with the drafting of a Constitution, was also considering the legal grounds for such an action.
| Actual Title of Source | Memorandum for the Supreme Commander: subject: Constitutional reform |
|---|---|
| Date | 1 February 1946 |
| Document Number | Alfred Hussey Papers; Constitution File No. 1, Doc. No. 3 |
| Repository (reproduction) | |
| Repository | National Diet Library |
| Note |
