93. Editorial Note
Secretary of Commerce Frederick H. Mueller headed a four-member delegation that visited Poland November 15–25 at the invitation of the Polish Government for the purpose of expanding U.S.-Polish contacts and mutual understanding. The trip, which was sponsored by the International Educational Exchange Program of the Department of State, reciprocated a visit to the United States in October 1958 by an official Polish delegation (see Document 56).
In a December 10 memorandum to the Secretary of State, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Foy D. Kohler summarized Mueller’s report on his delegation’s trip to Poland. Kohler wrote that as a result of his conversations, Mueller believed that changes in the top level of the Polish Government and Party personnel represented an effort to centralize the government’s economic and public welfare activities and increase coordination of planning. Kohler stated that Mueller saw no evidence that these changes were dictated by the Soviet Union and quoted Mueller’s basic conclusions:
“As long as Poland desires to increase its contacts with the West, domestic shifts in emphasis do not warrant a change in U.S. policy towards Poland at the present time. Poland is our only window through the Iron Curtain and this advantage should not be sacrificed until it is clear that Poland is on a course designed to revive the conditions that prevailed before October 1956.”
Kohler reported that Mueller recommended that the United States try to help Poland increase its exports to the United States, seek ways to increase U.S. investment in Poland, and expand U.S. private and government-financed exchange programs with Poland.
Documentation on Mueller’s trip is in Department of State, Central File 033.1148. No copy of his report has been found.