Editorial Note
At his news conference of May 5, 1954 (10:30 a.m.), President Eisenhower read a statement regarding Indochina and the Geneva Conference. He said that the Indochina phase of the conference was in the process of being organized and the issues had not yet been clarified. A large measure of initiative rested with France and the Associated States, the countries most directly concerned. Meanwhile, plans were proceeding for the realization of a Southeast Asia security arrangement. It had never been expected, the President continued, that this system could be created overnight, but the fact that such an organization was in the process of formation could have an important effect upon events at Geneva.
For the record of the President’s news conference, including the text of his statement, see Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1954, pages 450–459.