Editorial Note
The President’s appointment book indicates that at 9:30 a.m., March 20, 1954, President Eisenhower held an “off the record” meeting at the White House with the following individuals: John Foster Dulles, Secretary of State; Charles E. Wilson, Secretary of Defense; Allen Dulles, Director of Central Intelligence; Admiral Arthur W. Radford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Douglas MacArthur II, Counselor of the Department of State. (Eisenhower Library, Eisenhower records, “Daily Appointments”) The diary of James C. Hagerty, Press Secretary to the President, presumably citing the same session, states that the President met with Secretary Dulles, Secretary Wilson, and Admiral Radford for 1½ hours on the morning of March 20 on the subject of Indochina.
The Hagerty diary entry of March 20 also indicates that another meeting was slated for the following day. (Eisenhower Library, James C. Hagerty papers) The President’s appointment book confirms that another “off the record” meeting did occur at 12:16 p.m., March 21, with the following individuals in attendance: Secretary Dulles, Secretary Wilson, Allen Dulles, Postmaster General Arthur Summerfield, and MacArthur. (Eisenhower Library, Eisenhower records, “Daily Appointments”)
No records of the White House meetings of March 20 and 21, 1954, have been found in Department of State files or at the Eisenhower Library.