Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, National Security Affairs, Volume II, Part 2

OCB files, lot 62 D 430, “President’s UN Speech”

Progress Report of the Working Group of the Operations Coordinating Board¹

confidential

Washington, April 30, 1954.

Progress Report of Working Group on Implementation of the President’s UN Speech, December 9, 1953 to March 10, 1954

i. summary

On December 9, 1953, the Operations Coordinating Board established an interdepartmental committee to follow up on the President’s UNGA speech of the day before. Chaired by Mr. C. D. Jackson, the new group sought to insure that resultant statements and action in the public information field would support national security policies.

The group worked with non-OCB-member agencies as required, maintained appropriate private and congressional contacts, and kept in touch with Government machinery for substantive atomic policy.

Domestic activities included cooperation with UN information officers on quick, priority media coverage, including commercial channels, and specific plans, projects and action assignments for the participating agencies. The working committee also prepared recommendations for the domestic release of the Ivy film,² and developed a program to counter Soviet propaganda against the film, for Board action. The group also contributed to exploitation of relevant portions of the President’s messages on the State of the Union and on modernizing the Atomic Energy Act.

The committee also coordinated the overseas exploitation of the speech, handled primarily through a U.S. Information Agency program of the first magnitude, which included exhibits, films, collections of books and other materials, and other media activities in a long-range and continuing program.

In an effort to maintain the initial successes of the speech and its exploitation, the Board on March 10 approved “A Program to Exploit the A-Bank Proposals in the President’s Speech…”. This paper, which was produced by the working group, brought the initial planning effort near to a close.³

ii. the program: origin and development

At the request of the OCB in its meeting of December 9, Mr. C. D. Jackson agreed to “… assume chairmanship of a high-level Board committee to steer the follow-up activities in connection with the President’s speech before the UN General Assembly on December 8, 1953.” The agreed membership included State, USIA, CIA, Defense, the Atomic Energy Commission, and the Federal Civil Defense Administration. The immediate exploitation of the speech had been handled thus far by an informal working group, which this action superseded.

The Board acted after receiving Mr. Jackson’s December 9 memorandum⁴ which anticipated important questions which the speech would raise, particularly on sharing the peaceful benefits of atomic energy with the world. The memorandum proposed the OCB coordination of follow-up activities to ensure that “the resultant statements and actions in the public opinion field will be in support of current U.S. national security policies.”

The OCB continued at subsequent meetings to give attention to the problems of the new group, both administrative and substantive, including action on December 22 to ensure adequate coordination between the working group and the independent interdepartmental committee on substantive atomic policy.⁵

Appropriate non-OCB-member agencies were asked to participate in the domestic phase of exploitation, in a letter from Mr. Jackson of January 19,⁶ which enclosed a check list of suggested agency actions. The proposal recognized both existing government coordination efforts under State and the AEC and the need for new coordinating machinery for the future. It resulted in the establishment of periodic meetings of the appropriate OCB staff representative with press officers of interested Executive agencies on problems of exploiting the speech domestically, so that appropriate newsbreaks could be generated for USIA to report overseas.

For specific projects and problems, liaison has been developed by the working group or participating agencies, with the Joint Congressional Committee on Atomic Energy, and with private institutions, organizations and individuals in the United States and abroad. The exploitation program has included certain unattributable activities.

At its meeting of March 10,⁷ the OCB approved a major working group paper entitled, “A Program to Exploit the A-Bank proposals in the President’s UN Speech of December 8, 1953.” This action authorized the development of a program to provide “…guidance for effective coordination of the domestic and overseas information follow-up… so as to insure that public statements and resultant actions are in support of current U.S. national security policies,” and brought an initial planning phase near to completion.

At the March 3 and 10 meetings,⁸ the Board also considered the future approach of the Government to atomic information problems in a broader context, and “directed the Assistants to submit recommendations with regard to over-all coordination of public statement, information and timing of projects relating to the question of atomic energy…” The purpose of the directive was “…to produce recommendations by the Assistants as to the extent of OCB responsibility in these important fields and as to what if any additional responsibilities the Board or other agencies might be charged with by the National Security Council.” A memorandum to the Board on this subject was under development as this report closed.

iii. review of activities to march 10

A. Domestic

The principal working group began at its first meeting to act on domestic problems of exploiting the President’s speech, including policy decisions, administrative arrangements and specific action projects. Members of the initial exploitation team in Washington advised and assisted UN information officers to develop top priority foreign and domestic coverage on short notice, through the UN and commercial channels serviced by the UN. For example, five American TV networks and four radio chains carried the entire speech live, all network shows presented excerpts, and additional releases were made on kinescopes and recorded radio broadcasts. The UN Film Division provided a complete color film for FCDA, and 16 commercial newsreels covered the entire speech (overseas and domestically). Edward R. Murrow used a part of the speech on “See It Now”.

Subsequent to Mr. Jackson’s letter of January 19, the domestic aspects were handled primarily by “Group No. 2”, the press and information officers’ working group described in II above, working on the basis of check lists of actions keyed to a running calendar of events. The basic program paper, which was approved by the Board on March 10, contained plans, projects and action assignments to agencies in the domestic field which were accomplished as follows:

The Department of State: Distributed by mailing list some 4,700 copies of the speech, captioned “Atomic Power for Peace,” to local and national organizations; publications, key individuals, radio and TV outlets and display libraries; sent out 1,000 copies of the speech in response to requests; made reference to the President’s proposals on atomic power in New York address by Secretary Dulles before the Council of Foreign Relations; developed liaison with magazine and feature press through personal contacts and furnishing of information on economic implications of nuclear power; began plans to send the speech to 10,000 non-metropolitan editors; made initial distribution of “Questions and Answers on The Atom for Progress and Peace” in 10,000 copies and released the speech in a new format.

Atomic Energy Commission: The burden of supplying the “raw material” on peacetime applications of atomic energy and of reviewing for security, accuracy and policy consistent with AEC domestic operations has fallen on the AEC.

The AEC on December 15, designated two members of its public Information Staff to coordinate this supply and review service. Since that date, practically every AEC operating division and installation has been involved in supplying the material needed by other agencies, principally USIA.

About 40 USIA, State and CIA staff attended a specially arranged seminar at AEC early in January. Before the FCDA had prints available, the Official Use Only version of the Ivy Film was shown to principal staff members of the interested agencies.

Chairman Lewis L. Strauss has emphasized the importance of the President’s program in his public addresses, beginning with his speech to the Washington Conference of Mayors on December 14. Other Commissioners also have highlighted the proposal in public appearances.

Film, still pictures, reprints of pertinent articles, AEC reports and bulletins have been supplied in quantity to USIA. Policy guidance on spot news stories is given, especially to the Voice of America. AEC representatives have participated regularly in various OCB group and staff meetings and taken part in the evaluation of the various proposed promotion ideas.

The Department of Defense, while relatively conservative in its domestic treatment, made considerable progress in starting a long-range program to reach all components of the Department, and plans to give it continuing and concentrated attention. Defense’s activities included: circulation of the speech to key personnel through an Air Force Information Series Letter and development of an Armed Forces Talk, “Atomic Energy in your Future,” based on the President’s address. This is the most thorough current Defense effort. It will be distributed down to platoon level in the Army and Air Force for use in weekly discussions with all personnel, plus another 160,000 copies for other Services and outlets, and several additional thousands for local project officers on Armed Forces Day, May 15, and for private institutions and schools.

Defense is also publishing 20,000 copies of a speakers’ guide for Armed Forces Day, keeping alert for additional opportunities to increase understanding of the project through its regular contacts with hundreds of organized groups, and continuing to explore all profitable avenues of public understanding within the military establishment.

The Foreign Operations Administration has distributed copies of the speech to all key employees. Governor Stassen has stressed the significance of the December 8 proposals in repeated staff conferences, and referred to their world implications in all of his addresses since December 8. The speech is included in FOA briefing kits for visiting organizations, and FOA speakers are instructed to use the President’s main points wherever possible. FOA has also enclosed copies of the speech with FOA materials requested by mail, and briefed its entire staff on the guidance points highlighted by Mr. C. D. Jackson at the regular White House meeting of the information operators on December 11.

The Department of Agriculture will be prepared at appropriate times to include references to atomic energy and its application to agriculture in speeches of the Secretary and top officers, and may find occasion to do a special speech or more, largely on that subject. It will be ready when appropriate to stimulate newspapermen to treat the same topic. It is also preparing a television film short on the use of atomic energy in agricultural research, for distribution to 80 stations carrying farm program material from the Department. The film uses scenes from the President’s speech delivery and some AEC footage.

The Department of Labor has mailed hundreds of copies of the State Department’s Question and Answer fact sheet to its specialized list of publications (Labor Press Service, Negro Press, etc.), with explanatory notes, and is considering a program to distribute 10,000 copies of the State-printed pamphlet “The Atom for Progress and Peace” to its own employees, union and labor press officers and groups, and Departmental field officers.

The Department of Justice has distributed the speech to its key personnel and emphasized the need for discussing it in their public appearances.

The Department of Health, Education and Welfare has ordered 5,500 copies of the speech for distribution to key officials, and arranged to reprint it in the Office of Education’s School Life (10,000 circulation), and to carry excerpts in Public Health Service’s Public Health Reports (12,000 circulation). The subject will be mentioned in speeches by Department speakers whenever appropriate, and additional future actions are to be considered.

The Office of Defense Mobilization distributed this speech to key employees, and undertook continuing use of the theme in addresses by ODM officials. It distributed copies, plus State’s “Questions and Answers” to members of the Health and Resources Committee, which represents U.S. medical and health professions, and will distribute them where appropriate to business and labor leaders, scientists and educators through various ODM committees. Selections from the speech will be referred to in the next ODM Report, which has wide distribution.

The Treasury Department distributed the speech with an explanatory memorandum to its key officials, gave copies of the State “Questions and Answers” pamphlet to Washington and field officers, and provided them with guidance on points to be emphasized in official speeches. Secretary Humphrey has mentioned the speech on several public occasions and is expected to use excerpts from it in a recording for nation-wide use by Junior Chamber of Commerce groups.

The Federal Civil Defense Administration has made three distributions of the complete text. The first was in its Daily News Digest of December 9, 1953, which was mailed to 3,500 State Governors, Congressional leaders, agency heads, key organizations, and Federal, State and local civil defense officials.

The second was an appendix to the printed report of the White House Conference of Mayors on National Security to mayors of all U.S. cities over 5,000 population and other selected circulation totaling 10,000. An accompanying “FYI” pointed up the close link between the President’s words and civil defense, and urged frequent reference to the address in civil defense articles and speeches.

In addition, a public booklet containing the full text of the UN address, with marginal notes, and a foreword by FCDA. Administrator Val Peterson, was produced and given a select distribution of 5,000.

Both the Administrator and Deputy Administrator in their speeches, as well as FCDA booklets and releases, have continued to quote pertinent parts of the UN address.

General

The Ivy Film:

After extensive preliminary consideration by the principal OCB working group and the Board Assistants, the Board took action at its meeting of March 10 on the unclassified public version of the motion picture film “Operation Ivy,” produced in classified form under the auspices of Joint Task Force 132. It illustrates the effect of exploding a thermo-nuclear device in the fall of 1952. It was produced for AEC and Defense and made available to FCDA by AEC last September. The OCB agreed to a recommendation for release of this film by the FCDA to all media for U.S. audiences at 6:00 p.m., EST, on April 7, under specified conditions, and approved transmittal of a memorandum to NSC advising that this release date would be acceptable from the standpoint of foreign climate of opinion which may affect the security interests of the United States. The memorandum also included the view of the Board that insofar as feasible, overseas public display of the film should be avoided. The Board also directed the preparation of a program to counter Soviet propaganda exploitation of this film as evidence of U.S. warmongering and to gather support for the Soviet proposal to outlaw atomic weapons. This program had been prepared by the working group for approval of the Board Assistants as this report closed.

Legislative Liaison

The important relevance of atomic energy legislation to the project was recognized early. Arrangements were made for OCB staff to be informed by the Bureau of the Budget on the progress of coordination of substantive legislation to be proposed by the President. Mr. C. D. Jackson advised on portions of the President’s State of the Union Message and his special message to Congress on modernizing the Atomic Energy Act, and the working group developed information and guidances on appropriate portions of these messages. In addition, OCB staff representation arranged for brief references to the project in the President’s Economic Report.

B. Foreign

The overseas operational exploitation of the speech has been handled primarily by USIA, under the policy guidance of the Department of State and with the assistance of other agencies represented on the OCB working group or concerned with the substantive aspects of the speech and other atomic energy problems. All the resources of USIA have been committed to a massive program to spread the President’s message that “the United States pledges its determination to help solve the fearful atomic dilemma—to find the way by which the miraculous inventiveness of man shall not be dedicated to his death, but consecrated to his life”.

Four exhibits on the peaceful use of atomic energy—and the great strides already made in that direction—are now in production. A special motion picture has been produced. The overseas Information Centers are building up special collections of books and materials on the subject. The Press Service daily carries news of the latest peacetime atomic developments to the free world. The Voice of America is also factually reporting these vital developments to the captive peoples behind the Iron and Bamboo Curtains.

USIA’s program is a long-range and continuing one. Some of its more significant projects to date include: (1) the immediate transmittal of the full speech to 55 major foreign posts, followed by a suggested leaflet and more than 7,000 photos, plates and negatives; (2) distribution of the “Atomic Power for Peace” kit to PAO’s at all posts, including 45 separate items for publicity and speech use, picture stories and displays, pamphlets and reprints, and background information; (3) inclusion in the daily wireless file of six or more follow-up stories each week (total selective distribution of printed materials is expected to top 16,800,000); (4) emphasis in daily treatments on the great progress already made in the peaceful applications of atomic energy.

Exhibits

Overseas exhibits in preparation include a U.S. exhibition for Sao Paulo’s 400th Birthday Celebration, opening in July, three large mobile exhibits for transport through Europe by truck and smaller exhibits for all 217 USIS ports.

Information Centers

USIA libraries are building special shelves on peaceful atomic uses, over 24 current documents and pamphlets have been sent to information centers, and over 12 others have been recommended for addition to the libraries. Many “Atom for Peace” exhibits have been established, and books on peaceful use recommended for translation and publication by foreign publishers.

Voice of America

The President’s speech was carried live from the UN by all domestic and foreign-based Voice transmitters, and within a half an hour it was on the air in over 30 foreign languages. A complete kinescope was flown overseas immediately for the 35 countries with TV. Follow-up news and features were broadcast daily through December and consistently since then.

Motion Pictures

The speech was given immediate world-wide newsreel coverage. A one-reel documentary is receiving wide foreign distribution by Universal Pictures and USIS, and a new documentary supporting the President’s atomic pool proposal is in preparation.

Private Enterprise Cooperation

Over 266 U.S. companies highlighted the speech in their regular foreign correspondence, an Atomic Industries Forum was arranged for 300 foreign journalists, international service organizations are spreading the President’s message, and USIA has also been consulted by private sponsors of exhibits, films and international advertising.

United Nations

The initial Washington group cooperated with the UN and commercial channels serviced by the UN on a short-notice major exploitation program which included live Canadian television, British and Danish kinescopes, and Australian, Canadian and Latin American radio broadcasts or rebroadcasts and translations. Complete films or newsreels were carried on various UN Services, making it the largest UN motion picture coverage of a UN speech in recent years.

Task Force 7 Guidance

The working group assisted in preparations for initial motion picture guidance for Task Force 7 (future nuclear explosions).

iv. evaluation of initial impact

The President’s speech, supported by all-out global exploitation and follow-up, initially put the USSR on the defensive by focusing attention on the prospects for peaceful development of atomic energy. It was a bold positive act, which appealed to common people and intellectuals alike. It aimed straight at a goal cherished by the “neutrals” as well as our friends. It gave the Kremlin the choice of responding favorably or standing condemned by their own past “peace” propaganda. The Russians’ early impulse to say “No” gave the lie to that propaganda and earned them severe propaganda reverses.

However, U.S. successes to date have only been partial and unless the program is followed up vigorously, U.S. gains will be short-lived. The initial effect of the President’s speech while gratifying has shown that the significance of the proposals is not fully understood. Specifically, there is a great deal of confusion concerning the social improvement which can be expected from the peaceful application of nuclear energy and of the actions which the various countries must take in order to benefit from this program.

Judging from past activities, the Soviets can be expected to continue their attacks against any U.S. proposals and counter with such lines of action as a revised USSR Disarmament Plan, possibly calling for an atomic weapons ban and/or possible limited concessions to past U.S. views; other actions designed to exploit the fear which mankind has of the destructive power of the atom and its ignorance of the constructive potential of atomic energy; and discrediting the U.S. proposal and subsequent steps as not possessing any serious merit but as cover for “espionage, infiltration,” etc.

v. future plans

At its March 10 meeting, the OCB laid the foundation for continuing future activities when it approved “A Program to Exploit the A-Bank Proposals in the President’s UN Speech of December 8, 1953, in the Domestic and International Public Opinion Fields.” The program’s objective is to develop as part of a long-range domestic and international informational and educational effort, a widespread understanding of the speech, particularly in terms of the proposal to make nuclear energy available for peaceful purposes on an international scale. This program paper contains in addition to a concise exposition of the problem, widespread implementing action proposals with agency assignments and a checklist of suggested agency actions.

1. A covering memorandum by Elmer Staats, Executive Officer of the Operations Coordinating Board, to the OCB, dated May 7, reads as follows: “Attached is the subject report which was noted by the Board Assistants on behalf of their principals at their meeting on April 30, 1954. The previous draft of this report dated April 23 and the draft Summary dated April 27 are obsolete and may be destroyed in accordance with the security regulations of your agency.” No copies of the reference report and summary have been found. Ellipses in this document are in the source text.
2. The paper, approved by the Operations Coordinating Board Assistants, Mar. 26 is not printed. (P/PG files, lot 60 D 661, “Ivy”)
3. The reference paper is not printed. A copy is in P/PG files, lot 60 D 661, “President’s UNGA Atomic Speech, IV” together with earlier drafts and comments prepared by the Working Group for Exploitation of the President’s UN speech.
4. Ante, p. 1293.
5. A copy of the minutes of the OCB meeting of Dec. 22, 1953 is in OCB files, lot 62 D 430, “OCB Meetings, I”.
6. Not found.
7. A copy of the minutes of this meeting is in OCB files, lot 62 D 430, “OCB Meetings, I”.
8. Copies of the minutes of these meetings are in OCB files, lot 62 D 430, “OCB Meetings, I”.