Editorial Note
On the evening of April 20, 1954, Secretary of State John Foster Dulles departed from Washington for Europe to participate in the meeting of the North Atlantic Council held at Paris on April 23 and in the Geneva Conference which convened on April 26. The log of the Secretary’s daily appointments indicates that prior to his departure, Dulles engaged in a full day of meetings devoted largely to the Geneva Conference and Indochina. (Dulles papers, “Daily Appointments”)
At 9 a.m., Dulles briefed a delegation of Congressional leaders at the Department of State regarding Indochina, the Geneva Conference, and the question of united action in Southeast Asia. In anticipation of this session, he received briefing memoranda from Thruston B. Morton, Assistant Secretary of State for Congressional Relations, April 16 (751G.5/4–1654), and from U. Alexis Johnson, Department coordinator for preparations for the Geneva Conference, April 17. (751G.5/4–1754) No record of the meeting itself has been found.
At noon, the Secretary met with the Ambassadors of 20 nations to discuss aspects of the Geneva Conference. Regarding that meeting, see memorandum of conversations, page 1349. For the record of the session, see volume XVI, page 535. Dulles next had lunch with Charles E. Wilson, the Secretary of Defense, and Admiral Arthur W. Radford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Secretary Dulles devoted the afternoon to additional meetings with State Department officials.
Before his evening departure, Secretary Dulles issued a statement regarding the Geneva Conference (Department of State Press Release No. 207); for text, see Department of State Bulletin, May 3, 1954, page 669.