292. Telegram From the Secretary of State to the Department of State1
Dulte 6. Eyes only from Secretary for Hoover. Macmillan said privately to me that he would want to discuss the question of how [Page 621] long at Geneva we should be toyed with by the Russians while they are perfecting in the Middle East the gravest possible threat to Western Europe and capitalizing in Italy and France on the “spirit of Geneva” to make the Communist party respectable allies of the Socialists.
I fully sympathize with Macmillan’s viewpoint that it may be necessary at Geneva to take some drastic action. However, there is obvious danger in doing this at a time when the President is ill and when even though he expressed agreement with our action the whole world would feel that he did so in a perfunctory manner and that the world had been plunged again into the danger of war because he was not actively at the helm.
You many wish to discuss this matter very privately with such trusted associates as Nixon, Brownell, Humphrey, and Adams and perhaps at some stage it may be necessary to talk to some Congressional leaders although I would not suggest this latter unless and until it is apparent that we are not making any real progress at Geneva on the goals which are important to us, notably reunification of Germany.2
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, 396.1–GE/10–2455. Top Secret; Priority; No Distribution. Drafted by Dulles.↩
- Hoover replied on October 26, that he, Nixon, Humphrey, Brownell, and Adams were planning to meet on October 28 and he would welcome any further suggestions to present to them. (Tedul 13; ibid., Conference Files: Lot 60 D 627, CF 620)↩