320/7–953
The Secretary of State to the United States Representative at the United Nations (Lodge)1
Dear Cabot: I am sorry I did not have a chance to discuss with you yesterday the matter of the General Assembly Presidency. Our people here have recommended, and I concur in their recommendation, that we support Prince Wan of Thailand rather than Mrs. Pandit. I think you are familiar with most of the arguments pro and con in this matter, and of course if you have strong feelings that this is a wrong decision I would appreciate your getting in touch with me.
In reference to Security Council elections, I think we should support New Zealand rather than India for the Commonwealth seat being vacated by Pakistan if, as I understand, New Zealand has the support of all the Commonwealth members except India. On the Greek seat it is clear that we should not in any case support a satellite or any country which can be expected to support the seating of the Chinese Communists. [Page 480] Of the possible candidacies which might be developed, Turkey—particularly in view of its proximity to the Eastern European area—would probably have the best chance of effectively opposing the satellite candidate. We should, therefore, promptly take steps to develop a Turkish candidacy for the Greek seat, approaching the Turks first and, if they agree, other key governments, particularly the United Kingdom, France and the Latin American states. We should encourage the Turks to take the lead in developing their candidacy. While we should give them firm support, however, we should avoid staking United States prestige on her election or, for that matter, on the election of our candidates to other posts. If the Turkish candidacy should not prosper, I believe that our preferred alternative candidates should be the Philippines and Ethiopia. For the Security Council seat now held by Chile, we will, of course, support a Latin American state, presumably Brazil or Peru, deferring our decision until we know the views of the Latin American states.
It was good talking with you yesterday and I wish we could do that more often.
Sincerely yours,
- Drafted by the Officer in Charge of General Assembly Affairs (Taylor) and Roderic L. O’Connor, Special Assistant to the Secretary of State.↩