Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955–1957, Regulation of Armaments; Atomic Energy, Volume XX

104. Memorandum of a Conversation Between the Secretary of State and the President’s Special Assistant (Stassen), Secretary Dulles’ Residence, Washington, January 29, 1956, 4 p.m.¹

Washington, January 29, 1956, 4 p.m.

I showed Mr. Stassen the draft (No. 11) of the paper on political moves in relation to disarmament.² He said he did not agree with it. In the first place he doubted very much whether it would ever be possible to get an international body with weapons power greater than that of the United States and that the idea would be strongly opposed throughout the country. In the second place, he said he thought that the disarmament program which they had worked out would be sufficient to satisfy world opinion which wanted to have the United States strong. I said I doubted very much whether the concept of the United States as a “benevolent dictator” would be good enough in the long run. I believed that there should be some organic and organizational control of atomic weapons on an international basis. I realized that the idea of power in the United Nations was for the time being quite academic and I had not intended to suggest it except as representing a theoretical goal which was useful to keep in mind. However, that was not essential, because it was now too remote. The scope of present practical action lay with the non-Communist members of the United Nations and with the members of the free world collective security organizations.

It seemed to me that our position with reference to nuclear weapons would be much better if some sanction for their possession and use could be obtained either under the United Nations Assembly “Uniting for Peace” Resolution³ and/or by action by collective security groups.

I felt that President Eisenhower had a unique authority and that it would be a tragedy if it were not used to move the world ahead by climbing up at least one more rung in the ladder that led toward community control of this vast destructive power.

Mr. Stassen seemed unconvinced, but said that in his draft statement on which he was working, he would attempt to bring something in with reference to the United Nations Assembly and regional groupings, and then he would let me see the result with opportunity to comment on it.

JFD

1. Source: Eisenhower Library, Dulles Papers, Disarmament. Secret; Personal and Private. Drafted by Dulles.
2. Draft No. 11 has not been found in the Eisenhower Library or Department of State files.
3. For documentation on the Uniting for Peace Resolution, see Foreign Relations, 1950, vol. II, pp. 303–370.