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

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

Washington, July 1, 1957—1:26 p.m.

4. Eyes Only for Stassen from Secretary. We are sending you paraphrase of memorandum of conference of June 24, 1957, with the President of Strauss, Lawrence, Mills, and Teller.² You should know that this conversation made deep impression on President and that since then he has had serious mental reservations as to the correctness of our proposal to suspend testing.

You should also know that at the meeting which we had with the Disarmament Subcommittee of the Foreign Relations Committee,³Cole and Durham being also present, there was considerable skepticism both as to the wisdom of suspending testing and as to the practicability of having an inspection system which could not be evaded by the Russians.

I think you should know this as background to your thinking and because it emphasizes that this is an area where I do not think that any concessions can be made or the impression given that the kind of inspection required is simple and can be necessarily remote.

The scientists mentioned have been talking along the same lines to the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy and to some other Senators on the Subcommittee.

The situation is developing here in a way which suggests that it may be desirable for me to make a full scale half-hour talk outlining and explaining our basic position on disarmament. I would like your views about this both as to the doing it at all and if so the date which would fit in with your operations.

Then Lyndon Johnson has not yet been willing to name any Democratic Senators to specialize on disarmament and perhaps go to London. He has indicated he would do so only if we formally told him that such a trip to London was called for.⁴ This we are reluctant to do because in fact the matter can be followed and studied very much from here just as the President and I are doing it, and the trip to London is more for atmosphere and background than for substance of policy. However any views you have on this point will be welcome.

Dulles

1. Source: Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, Administration Series. Secret; Priority; Eyes Only. Drafted by Dulles.
2. Document 248.
3. Dulles briefed the Disarmament Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on June 27. For text, see Executive Sessions of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (Historical Series), vol. IX, pp. 701–730.
4. In identical letters to Senators Knowland and Johnson, June 21, Dulles suggested “the desirability of obtaining closer Senatorial participation,” and he added: “While it is my judgment that it would be premature at this time for Senators to join the Delegation at London, I hope that it will be possible for some of the designated Senators to participate in these talks if that becomes desirable.” (Department of State, Central Files, 330.13/6-2157) Memoranda of telephone conversations from Knowland to Dulles, June 24 at 5:03 p.m., and from Dulles to Mansfield, June 25 at 8:55 a.m., conveyed Johnson’s reaction on the matter. (Eisenhower Library, Dulles Papers, General Telephone Conversations)