325. Memorandum of a Conversation, White House, Washington, January 8, 19591
SUBJECT
- Call of Robert C. Hill, United States Ambassador to Mexico, on the President
PARTICIPANTS
- The President
- Ambassador Hill
- Assistant Secretary Rubottom
- Major John Eisenhower
The President received Ambassador Hill and Mr. Rubottom by appointment promptly at 8:15 a.m. today. The Ambassador expressed appreciation that the President had received his callers on such short notice and in the midst of preparations for his messages to Congress.
The Ambassador thanked the President for having sent such a distinguished delegation to represent the United States to the inauguration of President Lopez Mateos. He stated that the new administration had started well and that the United States could be gratified with the make-up of the new cabinet, referring by name to the appointment of former Ambassador Tello to the post of Foreign Minister and former Finance Minister Carrillo Flores to the United States as Mexican Ambassador. The President recalled his pleasant acquaintance with Ambassador Tello.
Mr. Rubottom told the President that Ambassador Hill and his staff had handled the visiting delegation to the inauguration in an outstanding manner. He also said that Ambassador Hill was carrying out his responsibilities in Mexico in a very fine way.
The President mentioned that he had been giving some thought to the possibility of meeting President Lopez Mateos at some mutually satisfactory place, possibly on or near the border, like Monterrey. He reflected the views of his medical advisers that it might be imprudent for him to go to Mexico City for a full State visit in view of the attitude of the capital, and then recalled that he had had very satisfactory meetings with former President Ruiz Cortines, first on the border at the inauguration of the Falcon Dam on the Rio Grande, and later at White Sulphur Springs where they had met informally along with the Prime Minister of Canada. The possibility of meeting in Acapulco was raised, and also at Brownsville-Matamoros on the border. Ambassador Hill described the splendid facilities at Acapulco, including the fishing, and reported briefly on the recent visit there of Senator Lyndon Johnson. The President nodded with satisfaction when the Ambassador declared that the Senator had made the bipartisan nature of the United States approach to foreign policy matters unmistakably clear to Lopez Mateos when the latter had suggested that he might attempt to circumvent the normal diplomatic and executive channels.
The President suggested that the Ambassador and Mr. Rubottom give additional thought to the desirability and the place for a meeting with President Lopez Mateos. Mr. Rubottom said that he would raise the matter with Secretary Dulles and would ask the latter to make a recommendation to the President.
Mr. Rubottom commented on the excellent report by Dr. Milton Eisenhower and the favorable reception it had.2 The President replied that he would have accepted the report exactly as drafted by his [Page 861] brother in the first instance, but that it had been trimmed down slightly as a result of various suggestions made by others in the administration.
Mr. Rubottom commented that the situation in Cuba seemed to be moving as well as could have been expected in view of the explosive events which had just taken place, but that the situation would bear close watching.3 The President recalled some of the opinions expressed in the past about Fidel Castro.
The callers thanked the President for receiving them and departed at 8:35 a.m.