Office of the Historian
Editorial Note

Secretary of State Acheson and other American officials and advisers who participated in the London Foreign Ministers meetings, February 13–19, flew to Lisbon on the afternoon of February 19 where they joined other members of the United States Delegation to the Ninth Session of the North Atlantic Council. Between February 20 and February 25, the Council held five plenary meetings. The NATO Foreign Ministers, Defense Ministers, and Finance Ministers also held various meetings during this time. From February 20 to 26, concurrent with the formal NATO meetings, the Secretary of State held a series of meetings on the German question with Foreign Secretary Eden, Foreign Minister Schuman, and the Belgian, Netherlands, and Luxembourg Foreign Ministers; he held separate meetings with Eden and Schuman on a variety of topics; and he also met with Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio de Salazar and Foreign Ministers of other NATO countries. In the pages that follow, the editors have sought to present a comprehensive record of all known meetings of the Secretary of State, both inside and outside the formal North Atlantic Treaty Organization framework, during his stay in Lisbon. Where possible, the editors have also presented records of other formal Treaty Organization meetings.

The principal sources for the documentation presented in this section were the central files of the Department of State and the special [Page 108] comprehensive collection of minutes and papers in the Conference files, lot 59 D 95. A valuable, but far less comprehensive collection of papers on the meetings in Lisbon, particularly the single most complete collection of telegrams (Secto and Tosec) exchanged between the Secretary of State and Delegation in Lisbon and the Department of State, is included in the CFM files, lot M 88, box 161.

As in the case of the meetings in London, the single most authoritative account in print of the meetings in Lisbon appears in Chapter 65 of Acheson, Present at the Creation. Vital, but less thorough, coverage of the meetings also is provided by Eden, Full Circle. For Acheson’s report to Congress on the meetings, see Executive Sessions of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, volume IV, 1952 (Washington, 1976), pages 163 ff.

A brief official summary of the proceedings of the Ninth Session of the North Atlantic Council in Lisbon and a complete list of the United States Delegation at the session is presented in Participation of the united States Government in International Conferences, July 1, 1951–June 30, 1952, Department of State Publication 4900, Washington, 1952), pages 27–31.

Here follows a list of the principal members of the various delegations to the Ninth Session of the North Atlantic Council.

Belgium

  • Paul Van Zeeland, Minister for Foreign Affairs André de Staercke, Deputy Representative on the North Atlantic Council
  • Jean Duvieusart, Minister of Economic Affairs
  • Lt. Col. B. E. M. de Greef, Minister of National Defense

Canada

  • Lester Pearson, Secretary of State for External Affairs; Chairman of the North Atlantic Council
  • Brooke Claxton, Minister of National Defense
  • A. D. P. Heeney, Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs
  • L. Dana Wilgress, High Commissioner for Canada in London; Deputy Representative on the North Atlantic Council

Denmark

  • Ole Bjørn Kraft, Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • Thorkil Kristensen, Minister of Finance
  • Admiral E. J. C. Qvistgaard, Chief of Defense
  • Vincens de Steensen-Leth, Deputy Representative on the North Atlantic Council

France

  • Robert Schuman, Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • Edgar Faure, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance
  • Georges Bidault, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for National Defense
  • Maurice Bourgès-Maunoury, Minister of Armaments
  • Hervé Alphand, Deputy Representative on the North Atlantic Council
  • General of the Army Alphonse Juin, Inspector General of French Armed Forces; President of the Committee of Chiefs of Staff; Commander in Chief of Allied Land Forces in Central Europe

Greece

  • Sophocles Venizelos, Minister of Foreign Affairs Vice Admiral Alexander Sakellariou, Minister for National Defense
  • George Kartalis, Minister for Economic Coordination

Iceland

  • Bjarni Benediktsson, Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • Gunnlaugur Petursson, Deputy Representative on the North
  • Atlantic Council Eysteinn Jonsson, Minister of Finance

Italy

  • Alcide De Gasperi, Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs
  • Giuseppe Pella, Minister of the Budget
  • Randolfo Pacciardi, Minister of Defense
  • Alberto Rossi Longhi, Deputy Representative on the North Atlantic Council
  • General Efisio Marras, Chief of the Defense Staff
  • Ivan M. Lombardo, Chief Italian Representative at the Conference for the Organization of a European Defense Community

Luxembourg

  • Pierre Dupong, Minister of State and Minister of Finance
  • Joseph Bech, Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • André Clasen, Minister in London; Deputy Representative on the North Atlantic Council
  • Michel Rasquin, Minister of Economic Affairs

Netherlands

  • Dirk U. Stikker, Minister for Foreign Affairs
  • P. Lieftinck, Minister of Finance
  • C. Staf, Minister of Defense
  • A. W. L. Tjarda van Starkenborgh Stachouwer, Deputy Representative on the North Atlantic Council
  • Vice Admiral E. F. van Holthe, Chairman, Combined Chiefs of Staff Committee
  • H. F. L. K. van Vredenburch, Delegate to the Conference on the Organization of a European Defense Community

Norway

  • Halvard Lange, Minister for Foreign Affairs
  • Nils Langhelle, Minister of Defense
  • Erik Brofoss, Minister of Commerce
  • Dag Bryn, Deputy Representative on the North Atlantic Council
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Portugal

  • Joao Pinto da Costa Leite, Minister of the Presidency
  • Colonel Fernando dos Santos Costa, Minister of Defense
  • Paulo Arsenio Verissimo Cunha, Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • Guy Ulrich, Deputy Representative on the North Atlantic Council
  • Admiral Manuel Ortins de Bettencourt, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces

Turkey

  • Fuad Köprülü, Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • Fatin Rüstü Zorlu, Assistant Secretary General of the Foreign Ministry; Secretary General for International Economic Cooperation
  • General of the Army Sahap Gurler, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces
  • Nuri Birgi, Assistant Secretary General of the Foreign Ministry

United Kingdom

  • Anthony Eden, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
  • Lord Ismay, Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations
  • Lieutenant General Sir Kenneth McLean, Chief Staff Officer to the Minister of Defence (Winston S. Churchill)
  • Marshal of the R.A.F. Sir John Slessor, Chief of the Air Staff
  • Sir James Crombre, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury
  • Sir Frederick Hoyer Millar, Deputy Representative on the North Atlantic Council
  • Sir Pierson Dixon, Deputy Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
  • Frank Roberts, Assistant Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
  • Charles A. E. Shuckburgh, Private Secretary to Foreign Secretary Eden
  • Kenneth M. Wilford, Assistant Private Secretary to Foreign Secretary Eden

United States

  • Dean Acheson, Secretary of State
  • John W. Snyder, Secretary of the Treasury
  • Robert A. Lovett, Secretary of Defense
  • W. Averell Harriman, Director for Mutual Security
  • Charles M. Spofford, Deputy Representative on the North Atlantic Council; Chairman of the Deputies
  • General of the Army Omar N. Bradley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
  • David K. E. Bruce, Ambassador to France
  • Henry A. Byroade, Director of the Bureau of German Affairs, Department of State
  • William H. Draper, Jr., U.S. Special Representative in Europe
  • Lincoln MacVeagh, Ambassador to Portugal
  • John J. McCloy, High Commissioner for Germany
  • Frank C. Nash, Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs
  • Andrew N. Overby, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury George W. Perkins, Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs