Eisenhower Library, Eisenhower papers, Whitman file
Memorandum of Discussion at the 139th Meeting of the National Security Council Held on Wednesday, April 8, 19531
[Extracts]
Present at the 139th meeting of the Council were the President of the United States, presiding; the Vice President of the United States; the Secretary of State; the Secretary of Defense; and the Director for Mutual Security. Also present were the Secretary of the Treasury; the Attorney General (for Item 1); the Secretary of the Interior (for Item 1); the Director, Bureau of the Budget; the Acting Director of Defense Mobilization; the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff; the Director of Central Intelligence; the Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs; the Special Assistant to the President for Cold War Planning; the Military Liaison Officer; the Executive Secretary, NSC; and the Deputy Executive Secretary, NSC.
[Page 299]There follows a general account of the main positions taken and the chief points made at this meeting.
. . . . . . .
3. United States Policies in the Far East (NSC 148; NIE-47)
. . . . . . .
At the conclusion of the discussion on the point of the viability of the Japanese economy, the Secretary of State said that he wished to comment on the whole group of reports on Far Eastern policy. While it seemed to him that these papers were useful as a contribution to settling the budget problem facing the Administration, he did not feel able at this time to go along with the policy recommendations and implications in the reports.
Secretary Wilson agreed with Secretary Dulles, and said that he believed that the Council was moving too fast. He himself had not had time to digest all this material.
Mr. Cutler then explained the dilemma which confronted the Planning Board of the Council, indicating astonishment at the existence of reservations in the minds of the Council members as to the content of these papers, in view of the fact that they had been prepared by Planning Board members who had been designated by the Council members for the express purpose of stating their views. Under the circumstances, however, Mr. Cutler stated that he saw no alternative but to postpone consideration of the policy questions in the papers and confining discussion to the Financial Summary of the costs of implementing these policies.
Mr. Dodge, however, made it clear that he could find no evidence that the cost figures for the Far Eastern policies had been screened by any agency except the Planning Board. At any rate, he lacked confidence in the accuracy of the present estimates.
The President observed that the Council should remember that the Administration had promised the Congress a budget by the first of May. It was obviously essential to get into a study of our policy if there was to be any reasonable basis for the budget estimate. Of course, he went on, we had not had adequate time to make the kind of study that was required, and this was the penalty which faced any Administration which took over after so many years. Nevertheless, we should have to do the best we could.
Secretary Wilson expressed confidence that the National Security Council could agree readily enough on short-term solutions to policy problems like those set forth in the current series of reports, but it could not make decisions at this time on long-range solutions to world problems.
Secretary Dulles likewise maintained his position that it was reasonable to regard these policy statements as assumptions underlying [Page 300] budget figures, but not for anything more. These reports were, in fact, mere working hypotheses.
Mr. Stassen pointed out that these policies were not sacrosanct, and were always susceptible of change and reconsideration.
The President commented on the observations of Mr. Cutler and Mr. Stassen by complimenting the Planning Board on the work it had accomplished in getting this series of reports before the Council. Obviously, he added, the Council was not committed forever to following any policy report which it adopted, and the President pointed out that it was manifestly impossible for the NSC Planning Board to come up with suggestions for short-term solutions of policy problems without some grasp of the long-range direction of American policy. He agreed with Mr. Cutler’s suggestion that the Council postpone further action on these papers until the end of April, by which time the members of the Council would have had greater opportunity to familiarize themselves with the content of the reports.
Action on Item 3:
The National Security Council:2
- a.
- Discussed the reference report on the subject (NSC 148) and deferred action pending further study.
- b.
- Agreed that the Bureau of the Budget, in collaboration with the responsible departments and agencies, should analyze and screen the figure appearing in the “Far East Financial Summary”, pp. 7–13.
Note: The action in b above subsequently transmitted to the Director, Bureau of the Budget, for implementation.