66. Editorial Note
Dr. Milton S. Eisenhower left Washington on July 12, for a fact-finding trip to Panama, Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala, and returned to Washington on August 1. Acting as a Personal Representative of the President with the rank of Special Ambassador, Dr. Eisenhower, accompanied by Roy R. Rubottom, Jr.; Thomas B. Coughran; Assistant Secretary of the Treasury; Dempster McIntosh; and Samuel C. Faugh conferred with government officials and others in these countries who were concerned with economic development and other problems of mutual interest. Discussions centered upon the problem of underdevelopment and possible U.S. aid.
Upon his return to Washington, Dr. Eisenhower urged that the United States review its economic policies toward the Central America area. In a preliminary report to the President of August 1, he recommended that the United States consider: 1) the imperative need for bankable loans, not grants, in every country visited; 2) the response which the United States should make to the appeal of Latin American nations for more stable relationships between raw commodity prices and the prices of manufactured products; and 3) the urgent and immediate need to bring about throughout the hemisphere a clear, accurate understanding of U.S. policies, purposes, programs, and capabilities.
Documentation on the bilateral aspects of Dr. Eisenhower’s trip is printed in the compilations on United States relations with Panama, Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala. Additional documentation is in Department of State, Central Files 120.1513 and 120.1520, as well as in the following Department of State lot files: ARA/OAP Files: Lot 61 D 473; ARA Special Assistant’s Files: Lot 60 D 513; and Rubottom Files: Lot 60 D 553.
For text of Dr. Eisenhower’s preliminary report to the President, see Department of State Bulletin, August 25, 1958, page 309.
For Dr. Eisenhower’s account of his trip to Central America, see Milton S. Eisenhower, The Wine Is Bitter: The United States and Latin America (Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1963), pages 208–223