56. Editorial Note
The first agenda item at the 275th meeting of the National Security Council on February 9 was an oral briefing by Allen Dulles. He began as follows:
“The Director of Central Intelligence began by stating that it was his understanding that the President had requested a run-down of what he, Mr. Allen Dulles, had said to the committees of Congress when he had briefed these committees with respect to the Soviet ballistic missiles program. The President signified that he wished to have this run-down. Mr. Dulles then stated that on January 19, 1956, he had briefed the members of the Military Applications Subcommittee of the Joint Atomic Energy Committee. He reminded the President that he had discussed this Briefing with him before he had made it, and also stated that the contents of the briefing had been coordinated by the responsible intelligence authorities. Moreover, said Mr. Dulles, he had done his utmost to protect the sensitive sources of our knowledge of the Soviet missiles program. He then proceeded to describe the main points which he had made in this briefing.
“The only other briefing which Mr. Dulles had made, he said, was to the CIA Intelligence Subcommittee of the Armed Services Committee of the House. This briefing was likewise based on a coordinated intelligence estimate on the subject of the Soviet missiles program.
“Secretary Robertson commented, at the conclusion of Mr. Dulles’ remarks, that certain members of these committees had been told about the sources of U.S. intelligence about Soviet missiles developments. The President said, with a sigh, that he did not know what more we could do to protect ourselves against skunks. If anyone was caught revealing the slightest shred of information about our sources of intelligence on this Soviet program, we ought to get him ‘on the trigger’.” (Memorandum of discussion by Gleason; Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, NSC Records)
Four weeks earlier, on January 12, Allen Dulles had told the President at the conclusion of the 272d National Security Council meeting that a Congressional committee had asked him to give a classified briefing on the Soviet guided missile program. The President then told him not to give this briefing, since, according to Eisenhower, it would inevitably reveal the sources of United States intelligence information about the Soviet program. The President told Dulles to tell the members of Congress that “such a briefing would be contrary to the interests of the national security at this time.” (Ibid.) Subsequently, when it was decided that Allen Dulles would brief the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, a conference attended by the President, Allen Dulles, Lewis L. Strauss, Secretary of Defense Wilson, Deputy Secretary of Defense Reuben B. Robertson, Jr., General Twining, and Colonel Goodpaster was held on January 18 to discuss Dulles’ presentation. A memorandum of this conference prepared by Goodpaster is Ibid., Staff Secretary Records, Atomic Energy-Joint Committee.