Eisenhower Library, Dulles papers, Meetings with the President
Memorandum by the Secretary of State to the President
personal and private
[Extract]
. . . . . . .
When these [travel] plans were made, I had expected that General Bedell Smith would be back. With reference to his possible return and replacement by Murphy, I am inclined to feel that to pull him out at this time, particularly with Eden, Bidault and Molotov staying on, might be interpreted as an effort on our part to sabotage the conference, especially as around June 9 or 10 may be the critical time.
My disposition, therefore, is to have Bedell stay and plan to make my trip with the understanding that the Army can set up communications for me with Washington, and I can, of course, come back on short notice.
Does this have your approval?1
- A handwritten notation by President Eisenhower on the source text indicated that the President approved the Secretary’s decision to leave Under Secretary Smith at Geneva.↩