40. Memorandum of a Telephone Conversation Between the President and the Secretary of State, Washington, August 1, 1955, 10:13 a.m.1
The Pres. referred to this cotton thing—he did not realize the heat in it. He just had 60 Senators and Congressmen in—they are our friends as well as otherwise. We have to study this to see if we can ease up the situation a little bit. The Pres. is telling Benson to go back to Dodge’s Comm. and then go to the Sec. The Pres. said State has to look at it in a slightly larger view than we must not hurt anyone’s feelings at all. The Sec. objected to the implication in the above and said this program of Benson’s was voted down 8-1 in the Dodge Comm. The Pres. told the group we have to take a look at it—he said if you take friends away in the foreign field, you will [Page 133] pay more. They are now comparing our Administration unfavorably with the past one. The Sec. said State gets the rap on these things. The Pres. wants something that will alleviate the situation and lead us in the right direction. Anderson2 said he disposed of 7 million bales of cotton without disturbing the market.
[Here follows an unrelated topic]