Office of the Historian

List of Sources

Unpublished Sources

  • Department of State
    1.

    Indexed Central Files. The main source of documentation for this volume and for other volumes on the Middle East in the 1955-1957 triennium of Foreign Relations of the United States was the Department of State’s indexed central files. Documents in classes 200 (protection of interests), 400 (trade relations), 500 (cultural relations), 600 (international relations), 700 (internal political and national defense affairs), 800 (internal economic and social affairs), and 900 (communication, transportation, science) were searched for decimal combinations involving all countries in the Middle East (country nos. 74, 80, and 83 through 88) and for the Middle Eastern relationships of the United States (no. 11), Western Europe (no. 40), the United Kingdom (no. 41), France (no. 51), the Soviet Union (no. 61), and Turkey (no. 82).

    Other files and related subfiles searched for Middle East related materials include: 033 (official visits); 110.11-17 (Department of State senior officials files); 120.15 (special missions); 123 (Department of State personnel files); various files in class 300 (international organizations and conferences); and 601 (diplomatic representation). Other documents were located through pursuing cross-references and referenced telegrams.

    Documentation on the major and some of the minor themes covered in this volume are located in the following files:

    • 674.84A: Egyptian-Israeli relations, main file Israeli withdrawal question
    • 974.7301: Suez Canal question, main file
    • 684A.86: Israeli-Arab relations
    • 320.51, 320.511, and 884.411: Palestinian Refugee Question
    • 980.74 and 986.7301: Gulf of Aqaba question
    • 114.2: Congressional requests for Department records
    • 123-Hare, Raymond A.: Ambassador’s conversations with Nasser
    • 320.5780: U.N. Emergency Force
    • 398.14: International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
    • 611.74: U.S. relations with Egypt
    • 611.80: U.S. policy in Middle East
    • 611.84A: U.S. relations with Israel
    • 674.00: General Egyptian international relations
    • 683.84A: Syrian-Israeli relations
    • 684A. 85: Israeli-Jordanian relations
    • 711.5280: U.S. intelligence activities in the Middle East
    • 780.00: General Political Conditions in the Middle East
    • 784A.5 through 784A.5622: Israeli National Defense, military assistance and supply
    • 874.2614: Aswan High Dam Question
    • 874.411: Treatment of minorities (particularly Jews) in Egypt
    • 884A.10: Israeli financial matters, especially interest in Export-Import Bank loan
    • 884A.18: Jewish emigration into Israel

    2.
    Lot Files. Documents from the Department’s central files were supplemented by collections of records originally maintained in decentralized operating areas in the Department and retired as “lots” to the Department’s centralized recordkeeping authority. Information relevant to this volume can be found in the following lot files:
    • Conference Files: Lot 62 D 181
      • See entry under Washington National Records Center.
    • Current Economic Developments: Lot 70 D 467
      • See entry under Washington National Records Center.
    • INR-NIE Files
      • Files retained by the Bureau of Intelligence and Research.
    • INR Files: Lot 62 D 42
      • Selected documents from country and subject files for the years 1957-1960, including Intelligence Advisory Committee and National Security Council papers, as maintained by the Office of the Director, Bureau of Intelligence and Research.
    • INR Files: Lot 58 D 776
      • Miscellaneous files of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research for the years 1946-1957.
    • IO Files
      • Master files of the Reference and Documents Section of the Bureau of International Organization Affairs of the Department of State, comprising the official U.N. documentation and classified Department of State records on U.S. policy in the U.N. Security Council, Trusteeship Council, Economic and Social Council, and various special and ad hoc committees for the period from 1946 to currency.
    • IO Files: Lot 60 D 113
      • Consolidated files of the Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs for the years 1955-1957.
    • IO Files: Lot 71 D 440
      • Master files of classified records and correspondence of U.S. delegations to sessions of the U.N. General Assembly for the years 1945-1965, as maintained by the Bureau of International Organization Affairs.
    • L/NEA Files: Lot 64 D 290
      • Miscellaneous country and subject files maintained by the Assistant Legal Adviser for Near Eastern, South Asian, and African Affairs for the years 1948-1961.
    • NEA Files: Lot 59 D 518
      • Top Secret records pertaining to the Near East, and in particular to Project Alpha and the Anderson Mission, for the years 1954-1957, as maintained by the Office of Near Eastern Affairs of the Bureau of Near Eastern, South Asian, and African Affairs.
    • NEA Files: Lot 59 D 582
      • Files on Lebanon and Israel for the years 1953-1958, including reports, memoranda, and correspondence, as maintained by the Office of Near Eastern Affairs of the Bureau of Near Eastern, South Asian, and African Affairs.
    • NEA/IAI Files: Lot 69 D 488
      • Documentation on the Suez Canal and related topics for the year 1957, as maintained by the Office of Israel and Arab-Israel Affairs of the Bureau of Near Eastern, South Asian, and African Affairs.
    • NEA/IAI Files: Lot 70 D 229
      • Political and refugee files on the Middle East for the years 1950-1964, as maintained by the Office of Israel and Arab-Israel Affairs of the Bureau of Near Eastern, South Asian, and African Affairs.
    • NEA/IAI Files: Lot 72 D 438
      • Miscellaneous Top Secret records concerning the Middle East for the years 1955-1964, as maintained by the Office of Israel and Arab-Israel Affairs.
    • NEA/NE Files: Lot 59 D 38
      • Files maintained by the Office of Near Eastern Affairs for the years 1956-1957, including documentation on Syria, Egypt, and the Sudan.
    • NEA/NE Files: Lot 60 D 48
      • Multi-topics subject files for Sudan, Syria, and Egypt for the years 1954-1957.
    • NEA/NE Files: Lot 61 D 59
      • Miscellaneous files maintained by the Office of Near Eastern Affairs for the years 1953-1960, including documentation on Syria, Egypt, and the United Arab Republic.
    • Phleger Files: Lot 58 D 517
      • Miscellaneous files of Herman Phleger, Legal Adviser of the Department of State, concerning the Middle East, Latin America, and the Far East for the years 1953-1957.
    • Presidential Correspondence: Lot 66 D 204
      • Exchanges of correspondence between the President and heads of foreign governments for the years 1953-1964, as maintained by the Executive Secretariat of the Department of State.
    • Presidential Memoranda of Conversation: Lot 66 D 149
      • Chronological record of memoranda of conversation with foreign visitors for the years 1956-1964, as maintained by the Executive Secretariat.
    • Secretary’s Memoranda of Conversation: Lot 64 D 199
      • Chronological collection of the Secretary of State’s memoranda of conversation for the years 1953-1960, as maintained by the Executive Secretariat.
    • Secretary’s Staff Meetings: Lot 63 D 75
      • Chronological collections of the minutes of the Secretary of State’s Staff Meetings during the years 1952-1960, as maintained by the Executive Secretariat.
    • S/S Files: Lot 66 D 123
      • Records pertaining to the Middle East for the period August 1957 to February 1958, as maintained by the Executive Secretariat.
    • S/S-NEA Files: Lot 61 D 417
      • See State-JCS Meetings.
    • S/P-NSC Files: 61 D 167
      • Serial file of memoranda relating to National Security Council questions for the years 1950-1961, as maintained by the Policy Planning Staff of the Department of State.
    • S/S-NSC (Miscellaneous) Files: Lot 66 D 95
      • Administrative and miscellaneous National Security Council documentation, including NSC Records of Action, as maintained by the Executive Secretariat for the years 1947-1963.
    • S/S-NSC Files: Lot 66 D 148
      • Miscellaneous files concerning subjects considered by the National Security Council during the years 1949-1962, as maintained by the Executive Secretariat.
    • State-JCS Meetings: Lot 61 D 417
      • Top Secret records of meetings between the Joint Chiefs of Staff and representatives of the Department of State for the years 1951-1959 and selected problem files on the Middle East for the years 1954-1956, as maintained by the Executive Secretariat.
    • Tel Aviv Embassy Files
      • See entry under Washington National Records Center.
  • United States Mission to the United Nations, New York
    • USUN Files
      • Files of the United States Mission to the United Nations, 1950 to date.
  • Department of Defense
    • Naval Historical Center
      • Papers of Admiral Arthur W. Radford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 1953-1957.
  • Dwight D. Eisenhower Library, Abilene, Kansas
    • Dulles Papers
      • Records of John Foster Dulles, 1952-1959, including General Memoranda of Conversation, Meetings with the President, General Telephone Conversations, White House Telephone Conversations, and file “Israel Relations 1951-1957.”
    • President’s Daily Appointments Record
      • Records of Dwight D. Eisenhower as President, Daily Appointments, 1953-1961.
    • White House Central Files
      • Records of Dwight D. Eisenhower as President, 1953-1961. Documents cited in this volume are from the confidential file, “Suez Canal Crisis.”
    • Whitman File
      • Papers of Dwight D. Eisenhower as President of the United States, 1953-1961, maintained by his personal secretary, Ann C. Whitman. The Whitman File includes the following elements: the Name Series, the Dulles-Herter Series, Eisenhower (DDE) Diaries, Ann Whitman (ACW) Diaries, National Security Council Records, Miscellaneous Records, Cabinet Papers, Legislative Meetings, International Meetings, the Administration Series, and the International File.
  • Princeton University Library, Princeton, New Jersey
    • Dulles Papers, Dulles’ Daily Appointment Book
      • Daily log of the meetings and appointments of Secretary of State John Foster Dulles for the years 1953-1959.
  • Washington National Records Center, Suitland, Maryland
    • Conference Files: FRC 59-83-0066
      • Lot 62 D 181: Collection of documentation on official visits by heads of government and foreign ministers to the United States and on major international conferences attended by the Secretary of State for the years 1956-1958, as maintained by the Executive Secretariat.
    • Current Economic Developments:FRC 72 A 6248
      • Lot 70 D 467: Master set of the Department of State classified internal publication Current Economic Developments for the years 1945-1969, as maintained in the Bureau of Economic Affairs.
    • Tel Aviv Embassy Files: FRC 66 A 335
      • Lot 65 F 51: Subject files for 1956-1958, as maintained by the Embassy in Tel Aviv.

Published Sources

  • U.S. Government Documentary Collections
    • U.S. Congress. Senate. Executive Sessions of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (Historical Series), Vol. IX, Eighty-fifth Congress, First Session, 1956 (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1978)
    • ___. The President’s Proposal on the Middle East: Hearings Before the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on Armed Services, United States Senate, Eighty-fifth Congress, First Session, on S.J. Res. 19 and H.J. 117, Part I (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1957)
    • U.S. Department of State. American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1957 (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1959).
    • ___. Department of State Bulletin, 1957, Vols. XXXVI and XXXVII (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1957-1958)
    • ___. United States Policy in the Middle East, September 1956-June 1957 (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1957)
    • U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1957 (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1958)
  • Memoirs
    • Note: The following memoirs which contain information on the Arab-Israeli dispute during 1957 were consulted at the time this volume was prepared in 1979. The Department of State takes no responsibility for their accuracy nor endorses their interpretation of the events.
    • Adams, Sherman. First Hand Report (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1961)
    • Ben Gurion, David. Israel. A Personal History (New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1971)
    • ___. Israel: Years of Challenge (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1963)
    • Burns, Lt. Gen. E.L.M. Between Arab and Israeli (New York: Obolensky, 1963)
    • Eban, Abba. Abba Eban: An Autobiography (New York: Random House, 1977)
    • Eisenhower, Dwight D.The White House Years. Waging Peace, 1956-1961 (New York: Doubleday and Company, 1965)
    • Georges-Picot, Jacques. The Real Suez Canal Crisis: The End of a Great Nineteenth Century Work (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1978).
    • Macmillan, Harold R. Riding the Storm, 1956-1959 (New York: Harper & Row, 1971)
    • Meir, Golda. My Life (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1975)
    • Moncrieff, Anthony (ed.). Suez. Ten Years After (London: British Broadcasting Corporation, 1967)
    • Pineau, Christian. Suez/1956 (Paris: Robert Laffont, 1976)