Editorial Note
On April 8, Prime Minister Pholien arrived in Washington for a scheduled meeting with Dean Acheson on the following day. In the period since his arrival in New York with his wife on March 27, he had visited the United Nations and dined with Ambassador Austin, seen West Point, toured industrial plants in Pittsburgh and Detroit, and viewed the installations and training facilities at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, Connelly Air Force Base in Texas where Belgian cadets were training, and Fort Benning Army installation in Georgia.
The Prime Minister’s proposed visit to the United States was first mentioned, and favorably presented, in telegram 1400 from Brussels, February 28. Telegram 1435 from Brussels, March 6, added that it would be well if Pholien could “visit industrial center Middle West where he could obtain inspiration from size of our defense effort.” These telegrams and other documents related to Departments of State and Defense scheduling of this trip are in file 755.13.