Eisenhower Library, White House Office, “Legislative Leadership Conferences”
Memorandum by the Assistant Staff Secretary to the President (Minnich)1
[Extract]
. . . . . . .
At the Legislative Conference of April 5, 1954, Gov. Stassen made a presentation on the Mutual Security Program to be recommended to Congress for Fiscal 1955. About one-third of the funds involved were earmarked for Indo China.
One legislator voiced several complaints about the program, mostly in respect to the enlarged portion devoted to economic support. This was particularly true in regard to Formosa and Indo China. He went on to take exception to the way in which Mutual Security funds had been shifted from one purpose to another during the past year. Gov. Stassen pointed out that the shift had been for the purpose of helping the cause of the free world in Indo China and that it had been made only after bipartisan consultation.
The President intervened to point out that if Dienbienphu had fallen two weeks previously, the leadership conference that morning would be occurring in a very tense situation. Thanks to its resistance [Page 1246] thus far, the Communist position vis-à-vis the Geneva Conference was considerably different. The President felt that should the French be able to hold on at Dienbienphu, they would be making the greatest contribution possible.
. . . . . . .
- For information on this memorandum, see footnote 1, p. 1023.↩