228. Editorial Note
On November 24, the White House in Augusta, Georgia, released the text of a letter from President Eisenhower to General William Draper appointing Draper head of the President’s Committee to Study the United States Military Assistance Program and defining the committee’s role. For text and a list of the committee members, see American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1958, pages 1595–1596.
Draper held an organization meeting of the committee that day. He reported on his conversation that morning with the President (see Document 227), then initiated discussion of the committee’s functions and how it would accomplish them. (Minutes of Organization Meeting; Eisenhower Library, Draper Committee Records) This conversation continued at a December 2 dinner hosted by Institute for Defense Analysis President General James McCormack. (Notes of Discussion; ibid.)
[Page 433]The committee held its first meeting at 9 a.m. on December 4. Minutes of this and subsequent meetings, as well as additional committee documentation, are ibid.