Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, China and Japan, Volume XIV, Part 1

Eisenhower Library, Dulles papers, “Wang–Johnson Talks”

No. 438
The United States Representative at the United Nations (Lodge) to the President ¹

confidential
personal
private

New York , December 11, 1954.

Dear General: Herewith some confidential observations concerning the passage of our resolution in the United Nations in behalf of our prisoners:

1. After your statement to me Wednesday night, December 1,² I saw the Secretary-General and told him how strongly you felt that this was a great responsibility of his. I believe that this word from you had a very powerful effect in convincing him that he should go to Peking in person.

2. The British have a new political leader in Minister of State Anthony Nutting who is the best thing that I have seen in the political field for a very long time. He has a quick, thorough mind; real courage; ability to meet an issue; and is a gifted speaker and debater. For the first time there is someone here from a major power who helps actively in rebuttal. Until he came along I always had to rely on certain Latin Americans and the Turks and, no matter how able they might be individually, this would not carry the same weight as an active rebuttal from the United Kingdom. I believe he is a sincere friend of the United States and it is wonderful to think that he is only 34 years old and has so many years ahead of him. Foster Dulles has expressed our appreciation to Anthony Eden.³ If you could invite him down to lunch and give him a little of your time it would be a fine thing for the USA because I feel sure he will be Prime Minister some day.

3. The vote was as I told Foster that it would be. The only negatives⁴ were the five Soviets. The abstentions consisted of Afghanistan, India, Burma and Indonesia whose complexes are well known to you and the other abstentions⁵ were those Arabs who still look at everything in terms of their relations with Israel.

4. I recommend that officials of the US Government should try to talk as little as possible about the prisoner issue so as to give Hammarskjold a quiet period in which to try to work this out. He is a skillful diplomat who now has a position of unique prestige and symbolizes the will for peace of the entire world. He is going about his task in a very businesslike way. It would be a fine thing if he was given a real opportunity to work it out without a multiplicity of press interviews and comments from American officials which would make his job of achieving the release of our men that much more difficult.

With warm and respectful regard.

Faithfully yours,

Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.

1. The source text, a copy of the letter to Eisenhower, was sent to Dulles with a covering letter of Dec. 11 from Lodge.
2. Not further identified.
3. A message from Dulles to Eden, sent in telegram 3054 to London, Dec. 7, expressed appreciation for the support the British had given the United States on this issue. (611.95A241/12–754)
4. The five negative votes were cast by Byelorussia, Czechoslovakia, Poland, the Ukraine, and the Soviet Union.
5. The other three countries abstaining were Syria, Yemen, and Yugoslavia.