Editorial Note
By letter of November 16, 1952, General Alfred M. Gruenther, Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters, Allied Powers, Europe, relayed a message from French Defense Minister Rene Pleven to President-elect Dwight D. Eisenhower in New York, stating that the French Government desired to invite the latter to include a visit to Indochina in his projected trip to Korea. General Gruenther made [Page 284] no recommendation regarding the proposal, but transmitted with his letter a memorandum of the conversation which he had had with Pleven on November 15, and a memorandum on the subject (dated November 16) by Douglas MacArthur II, Counselor of the Embassy in France. MacArthur pointed out that a visit by Eisenhower to Indochina would have a beneficial effect on French public and Parliamentary opinion. On the other hand, he contended that such a visit could be misinterpreted as an indication of a decision by Eisenhower to provide extensive additional aid for Indochina. Also, it could have an unfavorable influence on those European elements which already believed that the United States was preoccupied with the Far East.
The Gruenther letter and its enclosures are in the papers of John Foster Dulles, Classified Material folder, at the Eisenhower Library. No reply has been found. General Eisenhower did not extend his trip to Korea to include Indochina.