Office of the Historian

Eisenhower Library, Hagerty papers

Hagerty Diary, Sunday, July 11, 1954

[Washington, undated.]

I dropped down to see the President at ten o’clock after church to see if there was anything further he wanted me to do. He had nothing in particular that he wanted me to do with reference to the change of plans, but we did have an opportunity to talk about the international situation and the upcoming Geneva Conference. He told me that he had been giving considerable thought to our discussion of several days ago and had reached the point in thinking it over where he thought it was necessary to have Foster Dulles fly to Paris to confer with Mendes-France and Eden on the entire situation. He told me at that time that Dulles would announce on Monday that he was leaving for Paris Monday evening1 and that if Dulles did reach an agreement, we could support with the French and British, Dulles would also have Bedell Smith go back to Geneva. “All in all it is going to be a tough situation, but I think you are dead right in urging us to have a high level American representative at Geneva. Otherwise, the stories from [Page 1334] Geneva will be entirely colored by Red propaganda and also by propaganda of our allies, particularly the French, who will then blame us for everything that goes wrong.”

  1. The log of the President’s daily appointments for Monday, July 12, indicates that he held an off-the-record meeting with Secretary Dulles at 9:40 a.m. (Eisenhower Library, Eisenhower records, Daily Appointments) Thereafter, Dulles called MacArthur from the White House instructing him to make arrangements through the United States Delegation at Geneva for the Secretary to meet with Premier Mendès-France in Paris on the evening of July 13. Mendès-France was not to be led to believe that Dulles would be going on to Geneva. (Eisenhower Library, Eisenhower papers, Whitman file) MacArthur immediately called Ambassador Johnson at Geneva. (Eisenhower Library, Dulles papers, “KoreaGeneva 1954”) At 12:55 p.m. Dulles received a call from Johnson indicating that Mendès-France would be pleased to meet with Dulles in Paris the following evening. The Secretary so informed the President. (Eisenhower Library, Dulles papers, Telephone Conversations)

    For President Eisenhower‘s recollection of these events, see Mandate for Change, pp. 369–370. For the statement issued by Secretary Dulles prior to his departure for Paris on the evening of July 12. see the editorial note, p. 1342.

    ↩