Editorial Note
Following his 3-week tour of Western Europe (see the editorial note, page 400), General Eisenhower spent a weekend at West Point, New York, before returning to Washington on January 31 where he was greeted at National Airport by President Truman, Secretary of State Acheson, Secretary of Defense Marshall, high-ranking government and military officials, and members of the diplomatic corps. At luncheon with President Truman and at a meeting of the Cabinet immediately thereafter, General Eisenhower reported upon the results of his tour. No official reports of these meetings have been found in the files of the Department of State, but according to the accounts in Truman, Memoirs, page 258, Eisenhower reported that he had found general agreement on the principles of a unified defense for Western Europe but found great difficulty in reaching an understanding with each NATO country as to its contribution—a difficulty resulting from the general poverty of Western Europe.