75. Editorial Note
After his plane landed in Washington from Warsaw on August 5 at approximately 4 p.m., Vice President Nixon went directly to the White House to report to the President on his trip to the Soviet Union and Poland. Others present at this conference, which began at 4:45 p.m., included Under Secretary of State Dillon and Milton S. Eisenhower. In his memorandum of August 5 summarizing this conversation, John S. D. Eisenhower wrote that the Vice President began by reporting on his trip to the Soviet Union and later discussed his trip to Poland as follows:
“The Vice President then said the most significant thing of the whole trip was the attitude of the people in Warsaw. Whereas the Soviet [Page 219] people were friendly, those in Warsaw were downright emotional. This, the Vice President feels, is the true Achilles Heel of the Soviet system. He said Warsaw has rebuilt amazingly. (He told a story of how he himself had reprimanded a guard who had been browbeating a friendly crowd in Sverdlovsk.) In contrast to Warsaw, the Soviet Union is oppressive and depressing. Dr. Eisenhower added that in spite of this atmosphere, he had been told that things have improved considerably in the Soviet Union. He went on to describe Gomulka as proud and tough, a match for Khrushchev. Gomulka prizes his independence and will not be pushed around by Khrushchev. The Vice President described Gomulka’s distress over our press versions of aid to Poland. When we say that we are giving aid for the sole purpose of splitting Poland from their ally Russia, this forces Gomulka to take steps to deny this allegation. The President agreed that Gomulka may have a point.” (Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, DDE Diaries)
The other portions of this August 5 memorandum are in Part 1, Document 106.