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

225. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in the United Kingdom¹

Washington, June 4, 1957—7:59 p.m.

8483. Please pass following to Prime Minister from President.²

Dear Harold: I have just received your cable of June 3 and to say the least I am disappointed³ to learn of the developments you describe. They took place without the knowledge or authorization of any of us here in Washington. When Governor Stassen was here a number of meetings were held to outline positions as a basis for a possible future agreement that would be acceptable to us provided they were satisfactory to our allies. We had assumed that these positions would not be conveyed to the Russians as a statement of the United States position before they had been fully discussed with you and the French Government and with NATO. Also of course the Federal Republic of Germany is deeply interested in some of the possible implications of this disarmament matter.

I am particularly distressed if⁴ matters have not gone ahead along this line and if the Russians have been informed on at least an ‘informal memorandum’ basis prior to the allied consultations which we had envisaged.

I assure you that the cooperative spirit so obviously present at the Bermuda Conference is something I regard as of the greatest value as between our two countries and I shall do my best to preserve it and live by it.⁵ Already, before your letter was received, the State Department and other Departments involved have been studying the matter with a view to seeing what corrective measures were possible and Foster is working on that this afternoon.

I realize that once the Soviets have a piece of paper in their hands from the Head of the United States Delegation, it puts you and our other allies in an awkward position, one that is not easy to redress, but we shall do the best that we can.

With warm regard. D.E.

Observe Presidential Handling. Confirm date and time of delivery.

Dulles

1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 330.13/6–457. Top Secret; Priority; Presidential Handling. Drafted by Dulles.
2. Regarding the drafting and transmission of this letter, see Supra. The letter is also printed in its entirety in Harold Macmillan, Riding the Storm, 1956–1959, pp. 303–304.
3. At this point, the word “disappointed” has been inserted by hand to be substituted for the phrase “astonished and chagrined.” The words “and chargrined” were inadvertently not deleted on the source text, but Secretary Dulles authorized Whitney to remove them. (Memorandum by Fisher Howe, June 5; Department of State, Central Files, 330.13/6–457) The phrase “and chagrined” does not appear in the version of the letter Macmillan printed.
4. At this point, the word “that” has been deleted and the word “if” inserted by hand.
5. At this point, the sentence “I might add that everybody here deplores this occurrence as deeply as I do” has been deleted from the source text by hand.