751.13/12–3054
The Secretary of State to Prime Minister Mendès-France 1
Dear Mr. Prime Minister: I extend to you my warmest congratulations on the successful struggle you have led. I think I can appreciate how arduous the task has been. I followed every phase with intense interest and if we here said little it was because we felt that silence was the best contribution we could make. I am sure, however, that you [Page 1539] and others in France must have realized the intensity of our concern. With best wishes to you and your wife for the New Year, I am
Sincerely yours,
- This message was transmitted to Paris at 3 p.m. in niact telegram 2364, Dec. 30, with instructions for the Ambassador to communicate it to Mendès-France.↩
- In telegram 2767 from Paris, Dec. 31, Dillon reported that he had received a telephone call from Mendès-France that morning thanking him for the letters from President Eisenhower and Secretary Dulles. Mendès-France then said that the restraint exercised by the United States during the past week had been of the utmost help and he was appreciative of the U.S. Government’s silence. (751.13/12–3154)↩