Office of the Historian

477. Memorandum of a Telephone Conversation Between the Secretary of State and the Director of Central Intelligence (Dulles), Washington, July 19, 1956, 3:40 p.m.1

Washington, July 19, 1956, 3:40 p.m.

TELEPHONE CALL TO ALLEN DULLES

The Sec. referred to someone’s talk with Hussein. Hussein said it is certain if we don’t go ahead they will go ahead with the Soviets. It is an attractive offer indeed. The Sec. said he is seeing him at 4 and expects to tell him we are not going ahead definitely. If the Sec. does not, Congress will chop it off tomorrow2 and the Sec. would rather do it himself. AWD said he would say that anyway. The Sec. has the feeling that if they do make this offer we can make a lot of use of it in propaganda within the satellite bloc. You don’t get bread because you are being squeezed to build a dam. The Sec. is inclined to go ahead. AWD knew that was in the wind. AWD thinks you have to assume that rumor they were not going ahead with an offer was not very sound. The Sec. said it just costs them propaganda… . AWD asked if the Sec. had good ground, and the Sec. said he would put it on the ground that since the offer was made, the situation has changed and so on. On the whole it is too big an affair to swing today. Not going to put it on the lack of peace in the area. We will give out a statement afterwards.3 The Sec. said he told Makins this a.m.4 and they were going to phone London and no reply so the Sec. guesses it is all right. M. said that is along the lines of their thinking but they would have liked more time but in view of Congressional situation, they understand. They agreed it is hazardous but AWD is inclined to think it wise in the long run. The Sec. mentioned Congress again. They mentioned getting together tomorrow.

  1. Source: Eisenhower Library, Dulles Papers, General Telephone Conversations. Transcribed by Bernau.↩
  2. Reference is to the Senate’s debate, scheduled for July 20, of the bill that became the Mutual Security Appropriation Act of 1957 on July 31.↩
  3. For text, see Department of State Bulletin, July 30, 1956, p. 188.↩
  4. See Document 474.↩