Office of the Historian

151. Record of Meeting0

Rambouillet, December 20, 1959, 10:15 a.m.

PRESENT

  • President de Gaulle
  • President Eisenhower
  • The Prime Minister
  • Monsieur Debre and Interpreters

President de Gaulle said that he was glad that at last the representatives of the three Western Summit Powers have met together. He wished to discuss the best method of cooperation between the three Powers, the United States, the United Kingdom, and France. There were a large number of subjects in which they were interested upon a world-wide basis, beyond the present limitations of NATO. One of the most important of these was Africa; then there was the question of Germany and its future; there was the question of military cooperation throughout the world. These three Powers had world-wide responsibilities which were not true of the other Powers in NATO, such as Germany, which had no colonies, or Italy. The three had to consider the Far East, the Middle East, and Europe as a whole.

President Eisenhower said that he would like to suggest the establishment of a tripartite machinery to operate on a clandestine basis with the object of discussing questions of common interest to the three Governments. The group which he had in mind might meet in one of the three capitals. Personally the President preferred London, but which capital was immaterial provided that there was no question of a connection with NATO. Such an organization would have many advantages; in particular it would ensure that at least there was some discussion between the Governments on the facts of any given question. The Prime Minister said that he quite agreed with the suggestion. President Eisenhower continued that his idea was that each country should supply one or two men who should not only be competent but also of specially good judgment and of reasonably high rank. There might be someone on the political side, a military figure, and an economist. President de Gaulle expressed himself very satisfied with this idea.

[Here follows discussion of unrelated matters.]

  1. Source: Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 64 D 560, CF 1569. Top Secret. No drafting information appears on the source text. A summary of the conversation was transmitted to the Department of State in Cahto 17 from Paris, December 22. (Ibid., Central Files, 396.1–PA/12–2259)↩