226. Diary Entry by the President1
Memorandum from the Secretary of State, dated March 28, 1956, entitled “Near Eastern Policies”,2 was brought to the White House at 4:30 on March 28, 1956, shortly after the President’s return from White Sulphur Springs. Accompanying Mr. Dulles were: Herbert Hoover, Jr., George V. Allen, William M. Rountree, Reuben Robertson, Secretary Wilson, Admiral Radford. Sitting in on appointment was Colonel Goodpaster, who will also prepare notes.3
President dictated, after the meeting, as follows:
“This memorandum (attached) was brought to me by the Secretary of State in response to my request that he prepare a list of the things that might be done in the Middle East which could help stabilize the situation and give us a better atmosphere in which to work.
“I have authorized the State Department to start work on all of the attached points. A fundamental factor in the problem is the growing ambition of Nasser, the sense of power he has gained out of his associations with the Soviets, his belief that he can emerge as a true leader of the entire Arab world—and because of these beliefs, his rejection of every proposition advanced as a measure of conciliation between the Arabs and Israel.
“Because of this, I suggested to the State Department that we begin to build up some other individual as a prospective leader of the Arab world—in the thought that mutually antagonistic personal ambitions might disrupt the aggressive plans that Nasser is evidently developing. My own choice of such a rival is King Saud. However, I do not know the man, and therefore do not know whether he could be built up into the position I visualize. Nevertheless Arabia is a country that contains the holy places of the Moslem world, and the Saudi Arabians are considered to be the most deeply religious of all the Arab groups. Consequently, the King could be built up, possibly, as a spiritual leader. Once this were accomplished we might begin to urge his right to political leadership. (Obviously this is just a thought, but something of the nature ought to be developed in support of the other suggestions contained in this memorandum).
“We had a long conversation deciding upon the kind of person who could direct and coordinate the campaign visualized in the memorandum. He will need quite a staff and some field organization, and it will be a real job to find the right man.”
- Source: Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, Eisenhower Diaries. Top Secret.↩
- Document 223.↩
- Supra.↩