Office of the Historian

493. Memorandum of a Conference With the President, White House, Washington, November 4, 1956, 4 p.m.1

Washington, November 4, 1956, 4 p.m.

OTHERS PRESENT

  • Under Secretary Hoover
  • Mr. MacArthur
  • Mr. Murphy
  • Mr. Phleger
  • Mr. Rountree
  • Mr. Bowie
  • Mr. Allen Dulles (for part of meeting)
  • Mr. Hagerty
  • Colonel Goodpaster

Mr. Hoover began by saying he would like to review to the President the latest development in the Hungarian situation,2 including the plan to submit a resolution to the UN General Assembly in its meeting at 4:00 PM, and also the situation in the Middle East, including the progress being made by Hammarskjold.

[Here follows Phleger’s review of the status of the Hungarian matter in the United Nations.]

With regard to Middle East developments, Mr. Phleger said the U.S. resolution had been presented, but not pressed to a vote, in order to enable action to be taken on resolutions submitted by Canada and India.3 The first of these called for the Secretary General, within 48 hours, to develop a plan, in consultation with the parties concerned, to introduce a U.S. [U.N.] police force into the area. This was passed with a vote of 55 to 0, with 19 abstentions. The Indian resolution, also passed, called on the Secretary General to report in 12 (or 18?)4 hours whether the cease-fire was being complied with. The vote on the resolution was 59 to 6, with 7 abstentions.5

Secretary Hoover reported that great progress was being made by Hammarskjold, who was trying to get at least a token force quickly, and forestall French-British invasion. The possibility of having the force composed of Canadian, Indian, Norwegian, and Colombian contributions was mentioned. It was expected that Hammarskjold would appoint General Burns of Canada as the chief of the force. Mr. Hoover also reported that Hammarskjold had sent a [Page 977] message to the U.K. urging them not to move in with invasion forces. The President commented that if the U.K. would stop the invasion, they could then join in the resolutions on Hungary.

Secretary Hoover next discussed dangers that were appearing of an Israeli attack on Syria and Jordan, and reported discussions between Mrs. Meir and Ambassador Lawson.6

The President next considered a draft which Mr. Hoover handed him of a proposed letter to Bulganin.7 The President redrafted the letter in order to offer a line of action to Bulganin by which he could reduce the shock and dismay the world has felt at Soviet actions in Hungary, rather than leaving the letter entirely denunciatory.

Finally, the group discussed a public statement that the President might make through Mr. Hagerty reporting the developments and actions of the day by the U.S.8

G
Colonel, CE, US Army
  1. Source: Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, Eisenhower Diaries. Top Secret. Drafted by Goodpaster on November 5.↩
  2. On November 4, the Soviet Union launched a major assault on Hungary and crushed the rebellion.↩
  3. See Document 485.↩
  4. As on the source text. The resolution called upon the Secretary-General to report in 12 hours.↩
  5. The official vote count was 59–5 with 12 abstentions. (U.N. doc. A/PV.563)↩
  6. See telegram 485, Document 488.↩
  7. Attached but not printed. The draft letter concerned the situation in Hungary.↩
  8. A memorandum by Greene, dated November 4, indicates that as a result of a White House decision in consultation with Hoover on November 4, “The President decided that no United States forces should participate in a United Nations force, but that United States military transport including airlift could be made available to get other national forces to Egypt under the United Nations resolution. Mr. Hoover informed Admiral Radford and Ambassador Lodge by telephone.” A copy of this memorandum was sent to Rountree and is in Department of State, NEA/NE Files: Lot 58 D 398, The White House 1956.↩