Office of the Historian

217. Memorandum of Conversation0

July 30, 1958, 11:30 a.m.

PARTICIPANTS

  • The President
  • Secretary Dulles
  • (U.S. supplied interpreter)
  • Prime Minister Fanfani
  • Ambassador Brosio

Mr. Fanfani said there was one matter he wanted to dispose of quickly and quietly. He said that he had received a letter from General Norstad with reference to the stationing in Italy of certain squadrons and that these were the IRBM’s (although Mr. Fanfani did not actually use these words).1 Mr. Fanfani said that he was entirely prepared to have this go ahead in accordance with General Norstad’s letter on the theory that it was the normal defense procedure of NATO. He did not want the issue to become a highly charged political issue but purely a matter for the military.

The President expressed his appreciation and said that he was sure that we would cooperate to keep the problem at this level which the President said he considered to be the correct level.

  1. Source: Eisenhower Library, Dulles Papers, General Memcons. Top Secret; Personal and Private. The meeting was held at the White House.↩
  2. On July 26, General Norstad send Fanfani a letter requesting Italy’s formal agreement in principle to the deployment of IRBM missiles on its territory. [text not declassified]↩