Office of the Historian

List of Sources

Part A. Unpublished Sources

  • Department of State
  • Decimal files of the Department of State.
  • Conference Files, Lot 59 D 95
    • Collection of documentation on certain official visits of European heads of government and foreign ministers to the United States and on major international conferences attended by the Secretary of State for the period 1949–1955, as maintained by the Executive Secretariat.
  • Conference Files, Lot 60 D 627
    • Collection of documentation on certain official visits of heads of government and foreign ministers to the United States and on major international conferences attended by the Secretary of State for the period 1953–1958, as maintained by the Executive Secretariat. This file is a continuation of Lot 59 D 95.
  • FE Files, Lot 55 D 388
    • Files maintained by the Bureau of Far Eastern Affairs for the year 1953.
  • FE Files, Lot 55 D 480
    • Files maintained by the Bureau of Far Eastern Affairs for the year 1954.
  • INR Files, Lot 58 D 528
    • Miscellaneous Top Secret files for the years 1949–1954 as retired by the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, including master file of Intelligence Estimates (IE’s) prepared by the Department of State Estimates Group.
  • INR–NIE Files
    • Files retained by the Bureau of Intelligence and Research containing copies of National Intelligence Estimates and Special National Intelligence Estimates, including NIE’s and SNIE’s for the 1952–1954 period.
  • OCB Files, Lot 62 D 430
    • Master files of the Operations Coordinating Board for the years 1953–1960, as maintained by the Executive Secretariat.
  • ON Files, Lot 60 D 641
    • Collection of memoranda of the Press Conferences of the Secretary of State (1935–1955), Department of State Radio (Wireless) Bulletins (1935–1945), News Digests (1945–1952), and other unclassified press materials for the years 1909–1954, as maintained by the Office of News, Bureau of Public Affairs.
  • PPS Files, Lot 64 D 563
    • Master file of documents, drafts, records of meetings, memoranda, and related correspondence for the years 1947–1953 of the Policy Planning Staff.
  • PPS Files, Lot 65 D 101
    • Master file of documents, drafts, records of meetings, memoranda, and related correspondence for the year 1954 of the Policy Planning Staff.
  • Presidential Correspondence, Lot 66 D 204
    • Exchanges of correspondence between the President and the heads of foreign governments for the years 1953–1964, as maintained by the Executive Secretariat.
  • PSA Files, Lot 54 D 190
    • Consolidated files of the Office of Philippine and Southeast Asian Affairs for the years 1937–1952.
  • PSA Files, Lot 58 D 207
    • Certain files of the Office of Philippine and Southeast Asian Affairs for the years 1949–1955, containing primarily material on Indochina.
  • Secretary’s Letters, Lot 56 D 459
    • Correspondence of the Secretary of State for the years 1945–1956, as maintained by the Executive Secretariat.
  • Secretary’s Memoranda, Lot 53 D 444
    • Chronological collections of the Secretary of State’s memoranda, memoranda of conversation, and memoranda of conversation with the President for the years 1947–1953, as maintained by the Executive Secretariat.
  • Secretary’s Memoranda of Conversation, Lot 64 D 199
    • Chronological collections of the Secretary of State’s memoranda of conversation and the Under Secretary of State’s memoranda of conversation for the years 1953–1960, as maintained by the Executive Secretariat.
  • Secretary’s Memoranda of Conversation, Lot 65 D 238
    • Chronological collections of the Secretary of State’s memoranda of conversation with the President for the years 1949–1952, memoranda of the Secretary of State and Under Secretary of State for the years 1951–1952, and the Secretary of State’s memoranda of conversation with Senator Tom Connally of Texas for the years 1950–1951, as maintained by the Executive Secretariat.
  • Secretary’s Staff Meetings, Lot 63 D 75
    • Chronological collections of the minutes of the Secretary of State’s staff meetings during the years 1952–1960, as maintained by the Executive Secretariat.
  • S/P–NSC Files, Lot 62 D 1
    • Serial and subject master file of National Security Council documents and correspondence for the years 1948–1961, as maintained by the Policy Planning Staff.
  • S/S–NSC Files, Lot 63 D 351
    • Serial master file of National Security Council documents and correspondence and related Department of State memoranda for the years 1947–1961, as maintained by the Executive Secretariat.
  • S/S–NSC (Miscellaneous) Files, Lot 66 D 95
    • Administrative and miscellaneous National Security Council documentation, including NSC Records of Action, as maintained by the Executive Secretariat for the years 1947–1963.
  • S/S–NSC Files, Lot 66 D 148
    • Miscellaneous files concerning subjects considered by the National Security Council during the period 1949–1962, as maintained by the Executive Secretariat.
  • State–JCS Meetings, Lot 61 D 417
    • Top secret records of meetings between the Joint Chiefs of Staff and representatives of the Department of State for the period 1951–1959 and selected problem files on the Middle East for the period 1954–1956, as maintained by the Executive Secretariat.
  • Vietnam Desk Files, Lot 58 D 257
    • Subject files of the Officer in Charge of Vietnamese Affairs, Bureau of Far Eastern Affairs, for the years 1954–1955.
  • United States Mission at the United Nations, New York
  • USUN Files
    • Files of the United States Mission at the United Nations.
  • Agency for International Development (files of predecessor agencies, the Mutual Security Administration and the Foreign Operations Administration)
  • MSA–FOA Message Files, FRC 55 A 374
    • Telegrams, airgrams, despatches, and reports to and from all overseas missions from January 1, 1953 to June 30, 1954 as maintained by MSA–FOA headquarters.
  • MSA–FOA Director’s Files, FRC 56 A 632
    • General subject and country file from the Office of the MSA–FOA Director covering all aspects of the foreign aid program for the years 1952–1955.
  • Dwight D. Eisenhower Library, Abilene, Kansas
  • Dulles Papers
    • Records of John Foster Dulles, 1952–1959.
  • Whitman File
    • Papers of Dwight D. Eisenhower as President of the United States, 1953–1961, maintained by his personal Secretary, Ann C. Whitman. The Whitman File includes the following elements: the Name Series, the Dulles–Herter Series, Eisenhower Diaries, Ann Whitman (ACW) Diaries, National Security Council Records, Miscellaneous Records, Cabinet Papers, Legislative [Page VIII] Meetings, International Meetings, the Administration Series, and the International File.
  • Eisenhower Records
    • Includes the daily appointment books of President Eisenhower for the years 1953–1961.
  • James C. Hagerty Papers
    • Papers of James C. Hagerty, Press Secretary to President Eisenhower, for the years 1953–1961.
  • White House Office Files
    • Several White House office collections, including files of the Office of the Staff Secretary, and Project “Clean Up.”
  • National Archives, Washington, D.C.
  • JCS Records
    • National Archives Record Group 218, Records of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
  • Naval Historical Division, Washington, D.C.
  • Radford Papers
    • The personal papers of Admiral Arthur W. Radford, Commander in Chief, Pacific (1949–1953) and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1953–1957), presently located in the Operational Archives Branch, Naval Historical Division, Department of the Navy, Washington, D.C.
  • Princeton University Library, Princeton, New Jersey
  • Dulles Papers, Daily Appointments
    • Daily log of the meetings and appointments of Secretary of State John Foster Dulles for the years 1953–1959.
  • Harry S. Truman Library, Independence, Missouri
  • Truman Papers, President’s Secretary’s File (PSF)
    • Papers of Harry S. Truman as President, 1945–1953, maintained by his personal secretary.
  • United States Army Military History Institute, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania
  • Ridgway Papers
    • Papers of General Matthew B. Ridgway, Chief of Staff, U.S. Army, August 15, 1953–June 30, 1955.

Part B. Published Sources

The following publications, including secondary accounts, were particularly useful in the preparation of this volume. Citations to additional published documents, memoirs, and other primary sources are provided throughout the volume as appropriate. No responsibility is taken by the Department of State for the accuracy of events set forth in unofficial sources.

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  • Dean Acheson, Present at the Creation: My Years in the State Department (New York, W. W. Norton, 1969).
  • Sherman Adams, First-Hand Report (New York, Harper & Row, 1961).
  • L’Année Politique, 1952, 1953, and 1954 (Paris, Presses Universitaires de France, 1953–1955).
  • Victor Bator, Vietnam: A Diplomatic Tragedy (Dobbs Ferry, New York, Oceana Publications, 1965).
  • Joseph Buttinger, Vietnam: A Dragon Embattled, volume II, Vietnam at War (New York, Praeger, 1967).
  • Allan W. Cameron, ed., Viet-Nam Crisis: A Documentary History, volume I, 1940–1956 (Ithaca, New York, Cornell University Press, 1971).
  • Philippe Devillers and Jean Lacouture, End of a War: Indochina, 1954 (New York, Praeger, 1969).
  • Arthur J. Dommen, Conflict in Laos: The Politics of Neutralization (New York, Praeger, 1971).
  • Robert J. Donovan, Eisenhower: The Inside Story (New York, Harper, 1956).
  • Anthony Eden, Memoirs of Anthony Eden: Full Circle (Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1960).
  • Dwight D. Eisenhower, The White House Years: Mandate for Change, 1953–1956 (Garden City, New York, Doubleday and Company, 1963).
  • Paul Ely, Memoires: L’lndochine dans la tourmente (Paris, Librairie Plon, 1964).
  • Denise Folliot, ed., Documents on International Affairs, 1952, 1953, and 1954. Royal Institute of International Affairs (London, Oxford University Press, 1955–1957).
  • France, Assemblée Nationale, Journal Officiel de la République Française, Débates Parlementaires, Assemblée Nationale, 1952–1954.
  • Melvin Gurtov, The First Vietnam Crisis (New York, Columbia University Press, 1967).
  • Ellen J. Hammer, The Struggle for Indochina, 1940–1955 (Stanford, California, Stanford University Press, 1955).
  • Ho Chi Minh, Selected Works. 4 vols. (Hanoi, Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1960–1962).
  • Edwin Bickford Hooper, Dean C. Allard, and Oscar P. Fitzgerald, The United States Navy and the Vietnam Conflict, volume I, The Setting of the Stage to 1959. Navy History Division, Department of the Navy (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1976).
  • Joseph Laniel, Le drame Indochinois: De Dien-Bien-Phu au pari de Genève (Paris, Librairie Plon, 1957).
  • Edward G. Lansdale, In the Midst of Wars: An American’s Mission to Southeast Asia (New York, Harper & Row, Publishers, 1972).
  • Henri Navarre, Agonie de l’Indochine (Paris, Librairie Plon, 1956).
  • Nixon, Richard, The Memoirs of Richard Nixon (New York, Grosset and Dunlap, 1978).
  • The Pentagon Papers: The Defense Department History of United States Decision-making on Vietnam [The Senator Gravel Edition]. 4 vols. (Boston, Beacon Press, 1971). See also United States Department of Defense, United States–Vietnam Relations.
  • Arthur W. Radford, From Pearl Harbor to Vietnam: The Memoirs of Admiral Arthur W. Radford, edited by Stephen Jurika, Jr. (Stanford, California, Hoover Institution Press, 1980).
  • Roger M. Smith, Cambodia’s Foreign Policy (Ithaca, New York, Cornell University Press, 1965).
  • United States Congress, Congressional Record, 1952–1954.
  • United States Congress, Senate, Executive Sessions of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, 83d Congress, 2d session, 1954 Historical Series, volume VI (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1977).
  • United States Department of Defense, United States–Vietnam Relations, 1945–1967 [“The Pentagon Papers”]. 12 vols. (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1971).
  • United States Department of State, American Foreign Policy, 1950–1955: Basic Documents (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1957).
  • United States Department of State, Bulletin, 1952–1954.
  • United States President, Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Harry S. Truman, 1952–1953 (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1966).
  • United States President, Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1953 (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1960).
  • United States President, Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1954 (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1960).