Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, Western Europe and Canada, Volume VI, Part 2

711.56352/9–353

No. 903
President Eisenhower to Generalissimo Franco¹

secret

[Washington,] September 3, 1953.

My Dear Generalissimo: Thank you for your kind and friendly letter of August 22² which Ambassador Dunn has brought to me. I have long had a close interest in the negotiations which have been proceeding between our two governments, and I am grateful indeed to have received from you your personal views regarding them and the agreements which are now so close to completion.

As you have observed the negotiations have suffered delays from time to time and we share your regret that this should have been so. It would be equally regrettable if there should develop from this fact, or from the detailed considerations which have necessarily been involved in some of the agreements, any sense of mistrust or suspicion regarding the broad objectives of the arrangements between our two nations which we both desire.

The many details which are incorporated, not only in the Technical Agreement and Technical Schedules of the Defense Agreement but also in articles of both the economic and military aid agreements, spring from considerations which have arisen within my Government during past years and it may be helpful to you if I should mention some of these briefly in order that you may better understand some of the problems which confront us here. For example, as I am sure our negotiators have explained to your representatives, a considerable portion of the economic and military aid agreements which we have been discussing, and which we have negotiated with a number of other countries, arise from the stipulations included in legislation passed by our Congress. Similarly many of the details in the Technical Agreement and the Technical Schedules, are necessary to such arrangements in order that our military services may be able to obtain the necessary appropriations from the Congress for the implementation of the agreements themselves. We realize that the variety and number of these details are frequently burdensome in negotiations such as those we have been engaged in and, realizing this, we have at all times endeavored to avoid raising any points which were not considered essential.

I have noted in your letter the reference to the necessity for the early preparation of aerial defenses, a concept which as you know we share, and your observation that the equipment in full of Spain’s land forces can take place at a later stage. We stand ready, as the provisions of the first article of the Defense Agreement indicate, to do our best with respect to military end-item assistance to your country, having in mind the necessary priority that must be given in this day to air defenses. I have referred to your observation regarding the equipment in full of Spain’s land forces, however, since in all frankness I must say that we are not able to undertake more in this respect than is provided in the Defense Agreement. We are, as you know, interested in improving the equipment of Spain’s military and naval forces and we intend to do our best within the existing priorities and limitations in the face of the world-wide threat of aggression and our resulting international commitments.

In this same respect I have also noted your view that the whole structure of the agreements will not have been completed until there has been added at the proper moment an appropriate annex concerning the details of our aid toward the equipping of Spain’s forces. I believe that some discussions regarding the details of such aid have already taken place between our representatives and I can give you every assurance that these will be pursued with a view to completing the programming of both military and economic aid in order that we may reach mutually satisfactory agreement with regard to such aid during the current fiscal year which runs from July 1, 1953 through June 30, 1954. This is our established practice and we would expect to follow a similar course with respect to the continuation of these programs over the period of the next several years as agreed between us and subject, as you understand, to appropriations by the Congress.

Ambassador Dunn is bringing this letter to you, and will also bring with him the few remaining considerations we have regarding the agreements now pending between our two governments. After careful study and consideration of the agreements and our remaining thoughts about them, which Ambassador Dunn will now be able to convey to the Foreign Minister, I feel confident that our representatives will be able to conclude and sign all the agreements without further delay.

In closing I wish to take the opportunity to say that I share your confidence that the arrangements which are about to be completed will open a new phase of friendship and cooperation not only between our military services but between our two nations, and I look forward to the further development of these close relations in the years ahead.

Sincerely yours,³

1. As indicated in footnote 1, Document 901, this letter, drafted by Dunham and cleared with Phleger, Stassen, and Nash, was carried by Dunn to the Summer White House in Colorado on Sept. 4. No record of the conversation which took place between President Eisenhower and Dunn on Sept. 5 has been found in Department of State files. A memorandum by Merchant to Dulles, Oct. 16, indicates, however, that in addition to signing the draft letter on Sept. 5, President Eisenhower gave Dunn instructions to convey orally a personal message to Franco. In a letter from Madrid, Oct. 8, Dunn assured the President that he had conveyed the message to Franco several days after the signing of the base agreements and that Franco had been “extremely touched and grateful” for Eisenhower’s assurance that he desired U.S.–Spanish relations to be “developed on the most realistic and cooperative basis.” (Secretary’s Letters, lot 56 D 459, “Memorandum for President”) With the signed letter and the oral message, Dunn returned immediately to Washington where further consultations on the negotiations were held (see footnote 1, infra). Dunn returned to Madrid with the President’s reply on Sept. 7.
2. Document 901.
3. The words “Sincerely yours” in the draft were crossed out and replaced by “With assurances of my highest respect & esteem, Sincerely,” with the notation that the latter phrase was added by the President on Sept. 5, 1953. The source text is not signed.