Office of the Historian

574. Memorandum of a Telephone Conversation Between the President and the Acting Secretary of State, Washington, November 13, 1956, 11:56 a.m.1

Washington, November 13, 1956, 11:56 a.m.

[Here follows discussion of unrelated subjects.]

The President brought up the alarming messages from Britain2 & France3 about our not agreeing to meeting—all based on the theory that we are missing the point—that it is Russia that is moving in, with a much stronger & heavier transfer of power than we anticipated. Therefore if we don’t agree to stopping it, we would antagonize the people who are going to win, the Arabs. To counteract that, the President thinks we ought, through our Embassies, to be talking to those governments in terms of the help we want to give as soon as satisfactory settlement is reached, economically, culturally, etc.

The President said we should study, as a matter of urgency, what we could & should do for Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Libya, & even Egypt, “by holding out the carrot as well as the stick.” He suggested Hoover discuss it briefly with Mr. Dulles—see how much we could put together now, & what could go into the program for the future.4

Secy. Hoover mentioned Selwyn Lloyd in N.Y.,5 & suppose he should want to come see the President. State’s reaction is that it would be almost as bad as Eden coming.

The President agreed that it would be wrong, if he were coming for a long conference—but just as an old friend, it would be all right for him to call and pay his respects. The President hopes he will not make the request, because “why embarrass me when Anthony and I have been in direct communication?” The President will see him if he has to do so, but said that, if he came at all, he really should be seeing Dulles or Hoover.

The President concluded with, “I am very anxious to see the constructive side of what we are going to do out there.”

  1. Source: Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, Eisenhower Diaries. Prepared in the Office of the President.↩
  2. See Document 571.↩
  3. See Document 572.↩
  4. Eisenhower’s directive prompted Department of State officials over the following six weeks to prepare a series of papers dealing with the U.S. position in the Middle East, an effort which led to the formulation of what became known as the Eisenhower Doctrine. For documentation, see volume XII.↩
  5. Lloyd was in New York to attend the Eleventh Session of the General Assembly.↩