Editorial Note
On January 6 President Truman and General Eisenhower conferred at the White House. Following the conference, for which no formal record has been found, the President’s Press Secretary issued the following statement:
“The President discussed the whole world situation this morning with General Eisenhower. In this conversation the President made it plain to General Eisenhower that he had the wholehearted backing of the United States and the President also expressed himself as being certain that General Eisenhower had the same sort of backing from the other 11 [NATO] nations.
It was stressed in the talk between the President and General Eisenhower that this is an organization for the peace, security and tranquility of the world.” (Department of State Wireless Bulletin, No. 6, January 6, 1951)
Following his meeting with President Truman, General Eisenhower conferred with W. Averell Harriman, Special Assistant to the President. Later in the day on January 6, President Truman, Secretary of State Acheson, Secretary of Defense Marshall, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, other top officials of the State and Defense Departments, and diplomatic representatives from the other 11 North Atlantic Treaty nations participated in a ceremony of full military honors for General Eisenhower at the airport prior to his departure by plane for Europe.
General Eisenhower, accompanied by his Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Gruenther, European Regional Affairs Deputy Director Douglas MacArthur II, and a small staff, carried out his planned 3-week tour of capitals of NATO nations and Germany during the period January 7–26. The General’s itinerary was as follows: Paris, January 7–8; Brussels, January 9–10; The Hague, January 10; Copenhagen, January 11; Oslo, January 12; London, January 13–16; Lisbon, January 16–17; Rome, January 18; Luxembourg, January 19; Frankfurt, Heidelberg, Darmstadt, and Bad Homburg, January 20–22; [Page 401] Paris, January 23; Reykjavik, January 24–25; Ottawa, January 26; New York, January 27. The documentation that follows includes the principal reports about the General’s tour as transmitted through Department of State channels and certain related reports and exchanges. Regarding General Eisenhower’s reports to the President, the Congress, and the American people upon his return to the United States, see the editorial notes, pages 449 and 458.