265. Letter From the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs (Jones) to the Ambassador in the United Arab Republic (Reinhardt)1
Dear Freddie: As indicated in our recent messages, Nasser seems to have departed generally pleased by his reception in New York. The full police protection and extensive press coverage accorded him apparently made the biggest hits. His talk with the President2 went well, and he seems to have been delighted with the prominence accorded him among the world’s leaders at the UNGA.
We fully shared your hope that it might be possible to show Nasser some of the country while he was here. At first, chances for such a trip looked excellent and, after review at the highest levels, we received a tentative green light to go ahead with initial detailed planning. An eight-day itinerary was worked out to be suggested to President Nasser by the American Friends of the Middle East who would then have been responsible for chartering an aircraft and other arrangements. Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco would have been visited with suitable social and other functions at each stop. While Protocol and Security were not too happy with such unofficial sponsorship, apparently out of concern that security and other problems might be greater than if the U.S. Government were to assume full responsibility, they agreed at the working level to cooperate if a trip took place. From a general standpoint, a privately-sponsored trip of this type was the only practical solution to the problem of how Nasser could be singled out for a tour of the United States from all the other heads of state or government attending the General Assembly.
[Page 608]It became apparent, however, that a trip of this nature by Nasser would necessarily require more obvious preparation by the Department than had originally been foreseen. Governors and mayors would have to be notified by the Department, and similar official details also taken care of. Moreover, it would subsequently have been more difficult to refuse requests for similar courtesies by other chiefs of state and heads of government. There was also a question to be considered regarding attitudes which state and local government officials might take toward trips by controversial world figures into their areas of jurisdiction, particularly during the heat of the presidential campaign.
Ultimately, it was decided that our approval could not be given to AFME raising with Nasser’s party the possibility of such a tour. In the absence of a specific request from a chief of state to make a trip, it was further felt that no detailed planning of this nature should go forward, in view of the security and protocol problems that such a trip would have entailed.
In the end, of course, Nasser made no such direct request. In fact, his staff never pursued with AFME, or with our NEA liaison representative in New York, any of the specific suggestions for public appearances which had earlier been advanced. As Fawzi indicated to me, Nasser cancelled plans for several public appearances in New York City. In view of his busy schedule in Manhattan and his obvious enjoyment of the summitry limelight at the UNGA, I believe he would probably have refused any suggestion for a tour unless officially invited by the U.S. Government. I am confident he remains hopeful of receiving such an official invitation at a later date.
I think you will find the various memoranda of conversations based on talks with Nasser and Fawzi in New York very interesting. They are going forward by pouch as soon as S/S can clear the backlog, presumably today. Looking back on Nasser’s visit, I do think it went about as well as we could have expected. Nasser seems to have been not too greatly disappointed at not being able to go on tour, particularly since none of his peers did either. Incidentally, much credit should go to U.S. Zionist leaders who made a conscious decision to have their organizations refrain from public demonstrations of any kind against Nasser’s presence here.
I was most interested to read of the good welcome accorded our initial shipment of Title II flour to the Syrian Region, and delighted that you were able to be on hand in Latakia to take part in the ceremonies. While the event unfortunately was accorded little publicity in the Syrian press, distribution and subsequent re-use of these marked bags thoughout much of the Syrian Region may well do more [Page 609] to create a favorable attitude there toward the United States than laudatory items in the Damascus press.
With warm good wishes,
Yours ever,
P.S. I have always felt that Nasser’s ignorance accounted for a great deal: therefore his exposure to New York, since he is a quick study, will probably have an impact. We will be most interested to see whether you note any changes in him or in his entourage as a result of his stay in New York. I don’t know what they bought to take back with them but no doubt there are more Arrow shirts and transistor radios in Cairo than there were previously.
You may hear them speak of Sam Sims of NEA/P. He was our special liaison officer with Nasser and did a first class job.
Ambassador Kamel is most pleased with the visit. He is a career man but the visit gave him an opportunity to see more of Nasser than he ever had before and we are told he gained Nasser’s respect.