Foreign Relations of the United States, 1958–1960, Eastern Europe; Finland; Greece; Turkey, Volume X, Part 2

14. Memorandum of Meeting Between President Eisenhower and His Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Gray)⁰

Washington, July 13, 1959, 10:30 a.m.

[Here follows discussion of unrelated subjects.]

3. I reported to the President on my final roundup with respect to the unilateral offer on the part of the U.S. to bring large numbers of Russian students to this country. I summarized for the President the attached statement, indicating the positions of the various agency heads.¹

The President then said that he had started on this idea about three years ago when the colleges and universities weren’t full.

Had his advisers agreed with him at that time the undertaking would have been a practicable one. Now he fears that the pressures on educational institutions from our own population is such that we might not be able to handle the Russian students. As an example he cited the fact that Barnard College has found it necessary to rent a hotel to accommodate its students.

I indicated to the President that I felt that my mission was accomplished and that I would do nothing further unless there was some indication from him.

I also reported to the President that only the Vice President seemed still to favor bringing increased numbers of the “managerial class” to the U.S.

[Here follows discussion of unrelated subjects.]

0. Source: Eisenhower Library, Project Clean Up. Top Secret. Prepared by Gray on July 16.
1. The attached statement, which was in the form of a table, is not printed. It indicated that all nine of the individuals and agencies queried (Departments of State, Defense, and the Treasury; the Central Intelligence Agency; the Bureau of the Budget, the U.S. Information Agency; the Office of Civil Defense Management; the Attorney General; and the Vice President) favored the idea of inviting Soviet students to the United States. All except the U.S. Information Agency favored a unilateral offer, with the Central Intelligence Agency and the Bureau of the Budget expressing qualified support for a unilateral offer. The U.S. Information Agency favored a reciprocal arrangement. The table also summarized some of the responses received. Copies of memoranda to Gray on this subject from Attorney General Rogers, dated June 11, and from Deputy Secretary of Defense Gates, dated June 12, are ibid.