337. Letter From President Eisenhower to President López Mateos1
Dear Mr. President: I have received your courteous letters of October twentieth and October twenty-eighth2 containing your expressions of appreciation for the efforts made to reciprocate the gracious and cordial hospitality you and the Mexican people displayed during our meeting at Acapulco. I agree that the problems that remain to be solved between our two countries are susceptible of solution in [Page 890] the spirit of mutual understanding and respect that characterize our relations, and that this collaboration between our countries can have favorable effects on hemispheric relations and can set an example for nations everywhere.
As you undoubtedly know by this time, I am planning, in conjunction with my attendance at the Western summit meeting in Paris on December nineteenth, a visit to several countries of the Mediterranean and the Near and Middle East.3
It seems to me possible that the heads of our sister American Republics with whom the United States maintains close and cordial ties might like to be apprised of the reasons for my undertaking this project. Accordingly, I am taking the liberty of writing to you directly with this in view.
My visit will take me to Rome, Ankara, Karachi, Kabul, New Delhi, Tehran, Athens, Tunis, Paris, Madrid, and Casablanca. Basically, my purpose in visiting these nations is to do what I can to strengthen the ties which bind the nations of the Free World together. I have found from experience that there is no substitute for personal contact in furthering understanding and good will.
I think it is very worthwhile to take every step possible to allay the fears held by many in the far-flung reaches of the world as to the intentions and the ambitions of the West. While you and I know that the vast military power possessed by the Free World in its various alliances is maintained in readiness for defensive purposes only, on behalf of the principles in which we all believe, this fact, so obvious to us, is not always apparent to our friends. I assure you, Mr. President, that I will do everything in my power to convince our friends around the world that this is so. The Organization of American States is dedicated to the pursuit of peace with justice for all; I hope to impress upon each government I visit that this purpose is a basic aspiration among all the peoples of our entire Continent.
The tour will, of course, represent a strenuous undertaking. It will fill my time from now to the end of the year. Subsequent to that, there are various other commitments, such as a summit meeting and a return visit to Moscow, which will crowd considerably my time left in office. I want to assure you, however, that though these commitments are made outside the American sphere, it is my profound hope that all the American States will approve of the effort I am making and of the results, if any, that I may be able to achieve. I hope that an opportunity may still be afforded me to meet again with the leaders of those countries which comprise the Organization of American States.
[Page 891]Please be assured of my continuing high esteem.
Sincerely,
- Source: Eisenhower Library, Staff Secretary’s Records, International Series. Personal. No drafting information is given on the source text. Transmitted to the Embassy in Mexico City in telegram 1126, December 2, with the following instruction: “White House requests that you tactfully stress to recipient need for keeping text this message confidential.” (Ibid., White House Office File) The signed original of the letter was pouched to Mexico City.↩
- Neither printed. (Ibid.)↩
- President Eisenhower left Washington on December 3 for a tour of 11 nations of Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. He attended the meeting of Heads of State in Paris, December 19–21.↩
- Printed from a copy that bears this typed signature. A handwritten notation following the signature reads as follows: “and with warm personal regard from your friend.”↩