Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, The Geneva Conference, Volume XVI

790.5/4–2654: Telegram

The Acting Secretary of State to the Secretary of State, at Geneva¹

top secret
eyes only

Washington, April 26, 1954—12:28 p.m.

Tedul 7.

[Here follows discussion of a possible meeting between President Eisenhower and British Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill. For documentation on Prime Minister Churchill’s visit to the United States in June, see volume VI.]

I will see the President this afternoon and am arranging for a Congressional briefing either this afternoon or tomorrow morning.² The President covered things pretty well with the Republican leaders this a.m.³ However, reports that the French asked us to intervene actively in Indochina have already appeared in the papers and will undoubtedly leak with considerable accuracy either in Paris or here. The President will probably have to cover this matter in his press conference on Wednesday, as he will undoubtedly be questioned; so we are preparing a statement for his possible use. If you have any suggestions please wire me.⁴

Bonnet came again last night but he had nothing new to offer, simply to re-urge the importance of direct and immediate intervention at Dien Bien Phu, not to save the place but for the general effect on French morale in Indochina. Reports this morning indicate that the French were able to get additional ammunition in both yesterday and the day before.

You will be pleased to know that on the day before the President sent his personal message⁵ to you he spoke at New York,⁶ and during this speech gave as glowing and touching a tribute to you as I have ever heard him accord anyone.

Smith

1. Drafted by the Acting Secretary of State. Secretary Dulles arrived in Geneva on Apr. 24 from Paris to attend the Geneva Conference.
2. Held that afternoon in Washington. See telegram Tedul 13, Apr. 26, p. 574.
3. For a summary of the President’s meeting, see telegram Tedul 16, Apr. 28, p. 599 and extracts from James Hagerty’s diary, Apr. 26, in volume xiii.
4. For a summary of the President’s remarks on the Geneva Conference during his press conference on Thursday, Apr. 20, see editorial note, p. 604.
5. In this message to Secretary Dulles (telegram Tedul 5, Apr. 23, in volume xiii) President Eisenhower reassured the Secretary that he had the President’s complete support for “efforts to get the French to ask for internationalization of the war, and to get the British to appreciate the seriousness of the situation at Dien Bien Phu and the probable result on the entire war of defeat at that place.” The President instructed the Secretary to “make sure the British Government fully appreciates the gravity of the situation and the great danger of French collapse in that region. The British must not be able merely to shut their eyes and later plead blindness as an alibi for failing to propose a positive program.” (751G.00/4–2354) For the Secretary’s reply, see telegram Dulte 8, Apr. 23, in volume xiii.
6. President’s speech made on Apr. 22 before the American Newspaper Publishers Association at New York City is printed in the Department of State Bulletin, May 10, 1954, pp. 699–702.