Office of the Historian

S/P–NSCfiles, lot 61 D 167, “Free world petroleum demands and potential supplies, national security problems re (NSC 138, 138/1)”

No. 282
Memorandum by the Counselor of the Department of State (Bohlen) to the Secretary of State1

top secret
Washington, January 9, 1953.

Subject

  • —National Security Council Meeting

The President approved in toto the statement of State–Defense recommendations in NSC 138/1 on the Petroleum Antitrust Case. Recommendations of State and Defense received the solid support of the other agencies which joined in the discussion (Mr. Snyder had no comments to make). Commerce, Interior, ODM, CIA and MSA all emphasized the damaging effects to our national security that the continuance of the criminal case would involve. Justice on the whole presented a rather weak case and in line with the paper submitted to the Council tended to stray into areas in which they were not as well informed as Interior. After hearing all the discussion the President said that his whole record had been one in opposition to the trusts but in this case he felt that the considerations of national security were overriding and that he approved the State—Defense recommendations to terminate the criminal suit and to request the Attorney General to prepare a complaint as a basis for a civil action as recommended.

After the President rendered the decision the meeting was immediately adjourned so there was no opportunity to discuss procedures. [Page 656] After the meeting I had a few words with Jimmy Lay who said he thought the President would wish to move swiftly on this matter and requested that we should let him have an announcement, as provided in the recommendations, as soon as possible.

At Mr. Bruce’s suggestion, Mr. Fisher is undertaking to prepare such a statement in conjunction with Defense and will get in touch with Mr. Lay for this purpose.

The question of whether Mr. Truman should appoint the Commission or should recommend its appointment to his successor was left undecided for the reason indicated above.

Charles E. Bohlen
  1. Copies of this memorandum were sent to Bruce, Matthews, Nitze, Linder, and Fisher. A handwritten note in the margin stated that the Secretary of State had seen it.↩