Office of the Historian

375. Memorandum of a Conversation With the President, White House, Washington, August 28, 1957, 10:30 a.m.1

Washington, August 28, 1957, 10:30 a.m.

OTHERS PRESENT

  • Secretary Dulles
  • Mr. Rountree (part-time)
  • Mr. Gerard Smith (part-time)
  • Mr. Hagerty (part-time)
  • Major Eisenhower

Middle East

Secretary Dulles initially referred to two incoming messages, one from Mr. Macmillan2 and one from Ambassador Henderson,3 now touring the Middle East. The President read them over for his own information. The President was also informed that a Mr. Beeley, the British expert on the Middle East and Mr. Rountree’s counterpart, may come over to the U.S. for discussions on the entire situation. Some aspects of the situation are too sensitive to deal with by cable.4

The Secretary then reported to the President on the situation in Lebanon. A cable has been received from that country indicating that the internal situation there is tending to deteriorate.5 Apparently Syrian bandits and saboteurs are being sent across the border. Opinion is that if this present Lebanese government is to survive, it must do so on a coalition basis. The last elections were won by the party in power too sweepingly. Many friends of the West were swept out of power and apparently given rough treatment… .

The discussion then shifted to the Syrian situation, particularly with relation to Saudi Arabia. The President was concerned over the [Page 660] two messages he had received the previous day from King Saud, both of which were couched in extremely tough language.6 The chief cause for concern is the fact that Saud is now prepared to blame the U.S. for much of the difficulty in Syria. The President was curious as to the time and motivation for the cool treatment we have been given by Syria of late. In this connection, Secretary Dulles pointed out that we had made offers to Syria in 1955 but that the USSR was able to overbid us in that country. The President desired that this fact be pointed out to King Saud.

The Saud situation per se comprised the next subject for discussion.

[Here follows discussion of the Gulf of Aqaba question and of how the United States might better communicate with King Saud.]

Mr. Rountree then reported to the President on a debriefing of Colonel Malloy, who was recently declared persona non grata as Chief of the MAAG in Syria. Colonel Malloy has confirmed many impressions previously held by this government on the effectiveness of Soviet techniques in Syria and Egypt. The technique used thus far has been for the Soviets to send in small numbers of technicians, to insist that they behave well, to insure that they take no apparent political interest in the country, and to send them back immediately upon completion of their job. The first contingent consisted of only some 15 officers and 50 technicians. The next contingent, according to Mr. Rountree, will probably be some 100 officers and 600 men. By their scrupulous conduct and apparent lack of political motivation, these technicians are negating our propaganda that they are primarily political agents.

[Here follows discussion on the disarmament question. At this point in the conversation Smith replaced Rountree.]

John S. D. Eisenhower
Major, Infantry, U.S. Army
  1. Source: Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, Miscellaneous Material. Top Secret. A separate memorandum of the conversation by Rountree is in Department of State, S/S Files: Lot 66 D 123. It contains a briefer account of the conversation than Eisenhower’s memorandum printed here.↩
  2. Not printed. (Department of State, Presidential Correspondence: Lot 66 D 204, Macmillan to Dulles Correspondence 1955–1959)↩
  3. Transmitted in telegram 527 from Ankara, August 27, not printed. (Ibid., S/S Files: Lot 66 D 123)↩

  4. According to Rountree’s memorandum of conversation, Secretary Dulles “also showed the President the draft of a proposed new message [to Macmillan] suggesting that the Prime Minister send a representative to Washington for discussions following Mr. Henderson’s return. The President was agreeable to both messages, and approved the inclusion in the latter of a statement to the effect that he, as well as the Secretary, hoped that the Prime Minister would accept the suggestion.”

    The draft message is in Eisenhower Library, Dulles Papers, Meetings with the President. The revised message was transmitted for delivery to the Embassy in London in telegram 1656 at 12:04 p.m. on August 28. (Department of State, Central Files, 110.13–HE/8–2857)

    ↩
  5. Telegram 553 from Beirut, August 27, not printed. (Ibid., 783A.00/8–2757)↩
  6. Reference is presumably to two messages of August 25 from Saud, one concerning the Gulf of Aqaba and one concerning the Syrian situation.↩