Eisenhower Library, Dulles papers, “Bookburning”
Memorandum for the President by the Secretary of State1
- Subject:
- Overseas Libraries
You asked me to put in a memorandum the substance of what I said yesterday at Cabinet meeting on the above subject.
- 1.
- The overseas libraries are not the usual reference libraries but are
“special purpose” libraries designed, as prescribed by the “United
States Information and Education Exchange Act of 1948”, to
“disseminate abroad information about the United States, its people, and policies promulgated by the Congress, the President, the Secretary of State and other responsible officials of Government having to do with matters affecting foreign affairs.”
- 2.
- On February 24, 1953, we appointed Dr. Robert L. Johnson to become
Director of the International Information Administration. He took office
with the understanding that we planned as soon as practicable to take
that Administration out of the State Department and make it an
independent agency, and with the further understanding that in the
meantime he, as Director of the Administration, would have a large
measure of autonomy. Early in March, however, he asked me for my general
views as to the handling by the libraries of Communist material. Having
in mind the above Congressional directive, particularly that portion
dealing with policies of the Congress, the President and the Secretary
of State, and having in mind the anti-Communist nature of these
policies, I suggested that material produced by Communists should be
used “only with great care”; that without carrying the matter “to the
point of absurdity” we should avoid the buildup of Soviet personalities
to such an extent that they command widespread attention; that, while
United States periodicals of program value may be included,
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the mission should avoid
issues “containing any material detrimental to United States
objectives”, as well as periodicals which are receptive to international
Communist propaganda.” I expressed doubt that works of Communist authors
should be made part of these libraries. I concluded:
“If you find these ideas acceptable, I must rely on you to translate them into what is an appropriate and practicable ‘working-level’ directive.”
- I annex a complete copy of the above memorandum to Dr. Johnson.2
- 3.
- Dr. Johnson did find acceptable the ideas contained in my memorandum and, without reference to me, he issued various “working-level” directives designed to carry out these ideas.
- 4.
- These directives and related publicity produced results which were not intended and which were not called for by any reasonable interpretation of the directives. The extreme results which have come about from one or another of the 189 overseas libraries seem to have been due primarily either (a) to fear on the part of the librarian of having on his shelves books which might be displeasing to some member of Congress and lead to inquisition, or (b) to a deliberate effort to discredit the anti-Communist policy by trying to make it appear absurd.
- 5.
- Dr. Johnson is now trying to get up new directives with the assistance of a committee of eminent librarians and, at his request, I have given him complete discretion in this matter.
I am sending copies of this to the Cabinet group.3
- A copy of this memorandum, without the annex, is in Secretary’s Letters, lot 56 D 459, “President”.↩
- Dated Mar. 17, p. 1685.↩
- Dulles had previously (June 25) made the same points as above in letters to Senators Thomas G. Hennings (D., Mo.) and Henry M. Jackson (D., Wash.) in response to letters from the two Senators both dated June 18 complaining of recent public and Congressional confusion concerning policies of book selection in overseas libraries and demanding public clarification. The Hennings and Jackson letters are in file 511.002/6–1853 as is the Dulles response which was immediately made public on the Secretary’s orders and printed in Department of State Bulletin, July 13, 1953, pp. 58–59.↩