95. Memorandum for the File of a Meeting With the President, Washington, November 21, 1956, 8:30 a.m.1
The President met this morning at 8:30 with the following:
Gov. Val Peterson, FCDA
Mr. Ralph Spear, FCDA
Dr. Frank Fremont-Smith, Medical Director, Josiah Macy, Jr., Foundation, New York
Mr. William H. Jackson, Special Assistant to the President
Mr. James S. Lay, Jr., Executive Secretary, NSC
The purpose of the meeting was to present to the President the report on “The Human Effects of Nuclear Weapons Development” prepared for the President and the NSC by a panel, organized and assisted by FCDA, under the chairmanship of Dr. Fremont-Smith.2
Governor Peterson said that he was glad to say that the the report was affirmative and a little encouraging, and suggested that the President read the summary on page 3.
After reading the summary, the President said that this was just the kind of thing he had been looking for. He wished, however, to add one word of warning. He said that it was difficult during World War II for people to get over the feeling, prior to an air attack, that “it can’t happen here”. The problem is how you get people to face such a possibility without getting hysterical. You must guard against a crowd reaction of not knowing what to do, by getting individuals involved in finding the best solution. The President said he had always considered the civil defense problem basically one of gaining the cooperation and participation of the local population in each community.
Dr. Fremont-Smith agreed with the President, based on the experience of his panel. He said that as individuals they were appalled when they were first presented with this problem. However, as they became involved in studying it and trying to find the answers, they gradually developed into a team working together toward a solution. He said, however, that the panel members would never be the same. What the panel had in mind was, in effect, a series of small groups throughout the country going through a similar experience to that of his panel. He stressed that the issues to be discussed should not solely be civil defense, but the entire problem of national security in the nuclear age. He said that the groups must have a positive approach for survival, trying to achieve peace but being prepared for survival if war should come.
[Page 373]The President said that the very increase in our strength which such a program would achieve would have a deterrent effect on the possibilities of war. It would also make us better prepared if war nevertheless happened.
Dr. Fremont-Smith said that the development of teamwork through the proposed program would also cause people to support the Government in the steps necessary for our national security, even though some of them may involve real dangers. He said that we must not only tell the groups what we face, but also what we must do. We must get a spirit of working together for peace.
The President said that this is what we must all conclude when we have studied this problem.
Governor Peterson spoke of the exceedingly fine membership of the panel. He read parts of his transmittal memorandum stressing the backgrounds of learning and experience represented on the panel. He concluded that he felt that the Government frequently did not make sufficient use of social scientists.
The President said that he had been trying for two years to get such a study as this. He said that people kept making studies and reports to him of how we would fight wars, without giving sufficient attention to the study of what would be happening to the people involved. He agreed that there should be more studies from the social scientists’ viewpoint.
The President questioned whether the American Assembly3 would provide a useful forum for the proposed program. He explained that the purpose of this Assembly had been to integrate the entire university faculty into studying a particular problem, after which businessmen would be brought in on the study.
Dr. Fremont-Smith said that the panel in fact had a group such as the American Assembly in mind. He said that his Foundation was in fact a similar effort in the social science field.
The President asked whether we should not consider a modest budget item to help set up similar study groups in each state. He thought, however, that the work should not be broadened out too suddenly without having developed leaders. He cited his experience in London, where everyone volunteered for air defense work after the air attacks occurred.
On Mr. Jackson’s suggestion, the President agreed that the report should be studied first by the NSC Planning Board to suggest the next step for consideration by the NSC.
[Page 374]The President expressed his appreciation to Dr. Fremont-Smith for the report, and to Governor Peterson for having arranged it.
- Source: Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, Administration Series. Top Secret. Drafted by Lay. Copies were sent to Jackson and Goodpaster.↩
- This panel was organized in response to NSC Action No. 1430–p; see footnote 9, Document 30. A summary of the report is printed infra.↩
- The American Assembly consisted of about 60 men and women who met to study, discuss, and disseminate timely information on contemporary problems facing the United States. Eisenhower founded the American Assembly in 1950 when he was President of Columbia University.↩
- Printed from a copy that bears this typed signature.↩