Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955–1957, East Asian Security; Cambodia; Laos, Volume XXI

188. Memorandum of a Conversation Between the President and the Secretary of State, Washington, February 14, 1955¹

Washington, February 14, 1955

[Here follows discussion of items 1–5.]

6. I discussed with the President the matter of training for Cambodia, as outlined in the memorandum² which had been handed me a few moments before as a result of our earlier Departmental conference.³ I did not submit the memorandum to the President because I did not think it proper to do so except with prior knowledge of the Department of Defense. However, I outlined generally the problem and the President agreed that our Defense people should accept some sort of a compromise position. He asked me to take this up with Wilson and the JCS.

[Here follows the remainder of the memorandum.]

JFD

1. Source: Eisenhower Library, Dulles Papers, “Meetings with the President’. Secret; Personal and Private. Drafted by Dulles.
2. Supra.
3. According to a brief covering memorandum from Young to Robertson, February 15, the draft memorandum for the President (supra) was prepared for a meeting with the Secretary on February 14. No record of the meeting has been found. Also according to Young’s covering note, another memorandum from Robertson to Dulles, February 5, on outstanding Indochina problems including the Cambodian MAAG training negotiations as well as a staff study on the training mission in Cambodia, were sent to Dulles in the Bahamas where he was vacationing. Dulles read the memorandum and the study on his return to Washington. (Department of State, Central Files, 751H.5/2–555)