Editorial Note
From 9:15 a.m. to 10:55 a.m., May 28, 1954, the President met with the following individuals in his office: John Foster Dulles, the Secretary of State; Robert B. Anderson, the Deputy Secretary of Defense; Admiral Arthur W. Radford, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; General Matthew B. Ridgway, Chief of Staff, U.S. Army; Admiral Robert B. Carney, Chief of Naval Operations; General Nathan F. Twining, Chief of Staff, United States Air Force; General Lemuel C. Shepherd, Jr., Commandant of the United States Marine Corps; Douglas MacArthur II, Counselor of the Department of State; Robert R. Bowie, Director of the Policy Planning Staff, Department of State; and Robert Cutler, Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. The subject of discussion was the defense of Southeast Asia in light of the situation in Indochina. The question of five-power staff talks, aspects of the Indochina problem, and the [Page 1627] Geneva Conference were among the matters considered. At the meeting, Secretary Dulles presented a memorandum on the defense of Southeast Asia in the event of the loss of Indochina to the Communists.
For texts of Cutler’s notes on the meeting, the Secretary of State’s memorandum, and related documentation, see volume XII.