Office of the Historian
  1. Home
  2. Historical Documents
  3. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, General: Economic and Political Matters, Volume I, Part 1
  4. Document 4

Secretary’s Staff Meetings, lot 63 D 75, Notes 61–120

Notes on the Secretary’s Staff Meeting, Thursday, November 13, 19521

[Extract]

secret
SM N–83
[Washington, undated]

. . . . . . .

[Page 4]

Liaison Arrangements with New Administration

3.
Mr. Bruce reported that Senator Lodge2 will be in Washington tomorrow. Mr. Bruce plans to talk with the Senator either this weekend or the first of next week. At the present time it is difficult to determine how Senator Lodge will want to establish liaison arrangements with State.
4.
Mr. Thorp pointed out that there are two kinds of problems involved. One type includes problems which require immediate decisions prior to January 20. The other type is the group of problems which are not ready for a decision now but which a new Administration should study as soon as possible. He cited the reciprocal trade agreements act as an example and pointed out that the new Administration needs to do some thinking on this problem at an early date. Mr. Bruce pointed out that the most important problems, such as Korea, Iran, UN, etc., will be covered by briefing material for the Tuesday meeting between President Truman and President-elect Eisenhower.3 Unless Senator Lodge is prepared to organize a staff to go into the various departments, we could not do much more than this at the present time. Mr. Bruce felt that the arrangement with Lodge was a temporary one, but we must first find out what he has in mind before we begin preparation of materials. Mr. Nitze felt that on problems other than the most urgent ones, initiative should come from Senator Lodge for information or consultation.
5.
Mr. Johnson stated that Joseph Dodge4 has told him that he has been instructed by Eisenhower to merely observe and not to agree or disagree with decisions being made by the present Administration. Mr. Bruce stated that we will tell Senator Lodge that we will cooperate any way possible. He stated that it will depend to a considerable extent on whether Senator Lodge has a staff, whether he operates in the State Department, whether we furnish the staff for him, and many other factors.
6.
Mr. Sandifer stated that there was a ticker report yesterday which indicated that President-elect Eisenhower will see Senator Wiley the week of November 25. The report suggested that Senator Wiley would be used as the channel on consultation for the new Administration on UN problems. Mr. Bruce pointed out that the President will deal directly with Eisenhower on some of the major UN problems, but it was Eisenhower’s prerogative to designate any person he desired for liaison arrangements.
7.
Mr. Riddleberger suggested that there was a third category of problems and those would include decisions which are being made now but not of major importance. Action on some of these will have been completed by January for submission to the next Congress. He stated that the debt conference was a problem in this category. Mr. Bruce pointed out that the present Administration could not abdicate its responsibilities and would have to continue to operate. He asked that Mr. Riddleberger furnish him a memorandum on the subject of the debt conference.
8.
Mr. Miller stated that there were problems which require immediate attention in the Latin American area but are not of sufficient importance to warrant Senator Lodge’s personal attention. These problems are important for Mr. Miller’s successor. He stated that the Inter-American Economic Conference scheduled for February 9 is one in this category.
9.
Mr. Bruce suggested that all of the offices of the Department should prepare a description of the problems which the new Administration will be facing soon after January 20. These descriptions, as well as a listing of all problems which are not of such immediate importance, should be submitted to Mr. McWilliams. The memoranda should be prepared in two parts: (a) a description of the problems which the new Administration will face during the first two months of office; and (b) a list of problems which the new Administration will face during the remaining part of the fiscal year.

. . . . . . .

  1. The identity of the drafting officer and the date drafted are not indicated on the source text; the source text does indicate that the meeting began at 9:30 a.m.↩
  2. Representative-designate of the United States to the United Nations.↩
  3. See the memorandum of the meeting at the White House between the President and General Eisenhower, Nov. 18, 1952, p. 22.↩
  4. Director-designate of the Budget.↩