320/8–153
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Assistant Secretary of State for United Nations Affairs (Murphy)
- Subject:
- Presidency of the 8th General Assembly
- Participants:
- The Secretary
- Under-Secretary Smith
- Ambassador Lodge
- Mr. Murphy
The Secretary said he wanted to discuss the question whether the United States should support the candidacy of Mrs. Pandit for the [Page 482] Presidency of the General Assembly. The Under-Secretary, Ambassador Lodge and Mr. Murphy having indicated their concurrence, the Secretary said that he had just discussed the matter with the President because the election of Mrs. Pandit as President of the General Assembly might evoke some political reaction in this country. The Secretary said that the President indicated that he would have no objection as long as it was felt on our part that Mrs. Pandit’s election would be a satisfactory solution of the problem. The Secretary informed Mr. Lodge, in reply to his personal letter of July 30, that it would be O.K. to vote for Mrs. Pandit but that we should not enter into a campaign against Prince Wan.
Mr. Murphy also asked the Secretary regarding the New Zealand candidacy for the Security Council. The Secretary said that it would be all right to inform New Zealand that we would support its candidate.
In reply to Mr. Murphy’s inquiry regarding the fact that India is also a candidate for a place on the Trusteeship Council, and as we are now supporting Mrs. Pandit for the Presidency of the General Assembly, perhaps we could consider supporting Thailand for a place on the Trusteeship Council in lieu of India. The Secretary thought this worthy of examination and said he saw no objection to the Thai appointment to the Trusteeship Council.