Office of the Historian

List of Sources

Unpublished Sources

  • Department of State
    1.

    Indexed Central Files. The main source of documentation for this volume and for the companion microfiche publication was the Department of State’s indexed central files. Documents in classes 200 (protection of interests), 400 (trade relations), 500 (cultural relations), 600 (international relations), 700 (internal political and national defense affairs), 800 (internal economic and social affairs), and 900 (communication, transportation, science) were searched for decimal combinations involving the principal countries of Lebanon and Jordan (country nos. 83A and 85), as well as related Middle Eastern country files such as Syria (no. 83), Israel (no. 84a), the United Arab Republic (no. 86b), and Iraq (no. 87). Files under the general Middle East number 80 also produced significant documentation.

    Other files and related subfiles searched for relevant materials include 033 (official visits); 110.11 through 110.15 (Department of State senior officials files); 123 (Department of State personnel files); and various files in class 300 (international organizations and conferences).

    Documentation on the major and some of the minor themes covered in this volume are located in the following files:

    • 1958 Crisis in Lebanon
      • 110.13–MU: Deputy Under Secretary Murphy’s trip to the Middle East
      • 110.15–RO: Assistant Secretary Rountree’s visit to the Middle East
      • 320 and subfiles: U.N. General Assembly role in the crisis, including a visit by Secretary-General Hammarskjöld to the Middle East
      • 330: U.N. Security Council role in the crisis
      • 396.1: Western responses to the Soviet proposal for a summit meeting in the U.N. Security Council
      • 611.80 and 780.00: Regional implications of the crisis
      • 684A.86 and 684A.86B: Arab-Israeli implications of the crisis
      • 783A.00: The primary file for political developments, civil disorders, and the military intervention in Lebanon
      • 783A. 11: Exchanges with Lebaneses President Chamoun
      • 783A.5–MSP: U.S. military assistance to Lebanon
      • 783A.5411: Movement of U.S. forces into and within Lebanon
    • 1958 Crisis in Jordan
      • 033.4111: Visit by Foreign Secretary Lloyd to Washington
      • 110.13–MU: Deputy Under Secretary Murphy’s trip to the Middle East
      • 611.86C: U.S. support for the Arab Union
      • 685.87: Ties between Jordan and Iraq
      • 780.00, 785.00, and 110.13–MU: Dealings with UAR President Nasser over a possible compromise solution on Jordan
      • 785.00: The primary file for political developments, civil disorders, and the military intervention in Jordan
      • 785.11: Exchanges with King Hussein
      • 785.13: Contacts with cabinet-level offricials, particularly Foreign Minister Rifai
      • 785.5–MSP: U.S. military assistance to Jordan
      • 785.5411: Troop movements into and within Jordan (The question of overflights of Israeli territory during the crisis in Jordan was searched in file 784A.5411 but is primarily documented in the Arab-Israeli compilation in Volume XIII)
      • 786.00: The response of other Arab states to the crises in Jordan and Iraq
      • 787.00: The coup in Iraq on July 14
    • Aftermath of the Crises in Lebanon and Jordan
      • 411.83A41: U.S.-Lebanese trade relations
      • 411.8541: U.S.-Jordanian trade relations
      • 611.80: U.S. concerns with regional implications of developments in Lebanon and Jordan
      • 783A.00: Primary file for political developments in Lebanon
      • 785.00: Primary file for political developments in Jordan
      • 883A.00 and 883A. 10: U.S. economic aid and budgetary support for Lebanon
      • 885.10: U.S. budgetary support for Jordan
      • 885.2553: Petroleum supplies for Jordan

    2.
    Lot Files. Documents from the central files have been supplemented by materials from decentralized office files, the lot files of the Department of State. A list of the major lot files used or consulted follows:
    • Conference Files: Lots 63 D 123 and 64 D 560
      • See entry under Washington National Records Center.
    • INR Files: Lot 59 D 600
      • Files retained by the Bureau of Intelligence and Research containing records of the Lebanese crisis in chronological order from May 8 to August 1958, including State, military, and CIA messages.
    • INR–NIE Files
      • Files retained by the Bureau of Intelligence and Research containing copies of National Intelligence Estimates and Special National Intelligence Estimates, including NIEs and SNIEs for the 1958–1960 period.
    • NEA Files: Lot 61 D 20
      • Miscellaneous subject files pertaining to Iraq and Jordan for the years 1957–1959, maintained by the Iraq-Jordan desk of the Bureau of Near Eastern, South Asian, and African Affairs (Bureau of Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs as of August 20, 1958).
    • NEA Files: Lot 61 D 43
      • Geographic files for Middle Eastern countries, including correspondence and memoranda, for the period January–December 1959, maintained by the Bureau of Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs.
    • NEA Files: Lot 62 D 25
      • Miscellaneous subject files pertaining to Iraq for the years 1958–1960 and miscellaneous subject files pertaining to Jordan for the years 1959–1960, maintained by the Iraq–Jordan desk of the Bureau of Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs.
    • NEA Files: Lot 63 D 52
      • Miscellaneous subject files pertaining to Lebanon, Israel, and the Middle East for the years 1958–1961, maintained by the Lebanon-Israel desk of the Bureau of Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs.
    • Presidential Correspondence: Lot 64 D 174
      • Correspondence between President Eisenhower and heads of foreign governments for the years 1953–1960, maintained by the Executive Secretariat.
    • Presidential Correspondence: Lot 66 D 204
      • Correspondence between the President and heads of foreign governments for the years 1953–1964, maintained by the Executive Secretariat.
    • Secretary’s Memoranda of Conversation: Lot 64 D 199
      • Chronological collections of the Secretary of State’s memoranda of conversation and the Under Secretary of State’s memoranda of conversation for the years 1953–1960, maintained by the Executive Secretariat.
    • Secretary’s Staff Meetings: Lot 63 D 75
      • Chronological collections of the minutes of the Secretary of State’s Staff Meetings during the years 1952–1960, maintained by the Executive Secretariat.
    • S/S–NSC Files: Lot 63 D 351
      • Serial master file of National Security Council documents and correspondence, and related Department of State memoranda for the years 1947–1961, maintained by the Executive Secretariat.
    • S/S–NSC (Miscellaneous) Files: Lot 66 D 95
      • Administrative and miscellaneous National Security Council documentation, including NSC Records of Action, for the years 1947–1963, maintained by the Executive Secretariat.
    • State–JCS Meetings: Lot 61 D 417
      • Top Secret records of meetings between representatives of the Department of State and the Joint Chiefs of Staff for the years 1951–1959 and selected problem files on the Middle East for the years 1954–1956, maintained by the Executive Secretariat.
  • National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.
    • Record Group 218, Records of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
  • Washington National Records Center, Suitland, Maryland
    • Record Group 59, Records of the Department of State
      • Conference Files: FRC 83–0067
        • Lot 63 D 123: Collection of documentation on official visits by heads of government and foreign ministers to the United States, as well as major international conferences attended by the Secretary of State for the years 1955–1958, as maintained by the Executive Secretariat of the Department of State.
      • Conference Files: FRC 83–0068
        • Lot 64 D 560: Collection of documentation on official visits by heads of government and foreign ministers to the United States, as well as major international conferences attended by the Secretary of State for the year 1959, as maintained by the Executive Secretariat of the Department of State.
    • Record Group 84, Records of the Foreign Service Posts of the United States
      • Beirut Embassy Files: FRC 61 F 99
        • Classified records of the Embassy in Beirut, 1958–1960.
      • Beirut Embassy Files: FRC 68 A 5159
        • Top secret files of the Embassy in Beirut, 1955–1963.
      • Record Group 330, Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense
        • OASD/ISA Files: FRC 62 A 1698
          • Lebanon and Jordan country files of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs.
  • Dwight D. Eisenhower Library, Abilene, Kansas
    • Dulles Papers
      • Records of John Foster Dulles, 1952–1959, including General Memoranda of Conversation, Meetings with the President, General Telephone Conversations, and White House Telephone Conversations.
    • Harlow Papers
      • Papers of Bryce N. Harlow, Administrative Assistant, September 1953–September 1958, Deputy Assistant to the President for Congressional Affairs, September 1958–January 1961.
    • Herter Papers
      • Papers of Christian A. Herter, 1957–1961. Principally important for Herter’s Telephone Conversations as Secretary of State, 1959–1961.
    • Jackson Papers
      • Papers of C. D. Jackson, Special Assistant to the President.
    • President’s Daily Appointments
      • From White House Office Files, Records of the Office of the Special Assistant for Executive Appointments, 1952–1961.
    • Staff Secretary Records
      • Records of the Office of the White House Staff Secretary, 1952–1961, including records of Paul T. Carroll, Andrew J. Goodpaster, L. Arthur Minnich, Jr., and Christopher H. Russell.
    • White House Central Files
      • Documents collected for this volume are from the Confidential File within this collection.
    • White House Office Files
      • Several White House Office collections, including files of the Office of the Staff Secretary, and Project “Clean Up”.
    • Whitman File
      • Papers of Dwight D. Eisenhower as President of the United States, 1953–1961, as maintained by his personal secretary, Ann Whitman. The Whitman file includes the following elements: Name series, Dulles–Herter series, Eisenhower Diaries, Ann Whitman (ACW) Diaries, National Security Council Records, Miscellaneous Records, Cabinet Papers, Legislative Meetings, International Meetings, Administrative Series, and International File.

Published Sources

  • Documentary Collections
    • Cordier, Andrew W. and Wilder Foote (eds.). Public Papers of the Secretaries-General of the United Nations. Vol. IV: Dag Hammarskjold, 1958–1960. New York: Columbia University Press, 1974.
    • U.S. Department of State. American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1958, 1959, and 1960. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1962–1964.
    • ———. Department of State Bulletin, Vols. XXXVIII–XLIII. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1958–1961.
    • U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1958, 1959, and 1960–61. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1959–1961.

  • Memoirs

    Note: The following memoirs were consulted. The Department of State takes no responsibility for their accuracy nor endorses their interpretation of events.

    • Chamoun, Camille. Crise au Moyen-Orient. Paris: Gallimard, 1963.
    • Eisenhower, Dwight D. The White House Years. Waging Peace, 1956–1961. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1965.
    • Eveland, Wilbur Crane. Ropes of Sand: America’s Failure in the Middle East. New York: W.W. Norton, 1980.
    • Hussein, King of Jordan. Uneasy Lies the Head: An Autobiography. London: Heinemann, 1962.
    • Lodge, Henry Cabot. As It Was, An Inside View of Politics and Power in the 50’s and 60’s. New York: W.W. Norton, 1976.
    • Macmillan, Harold S. Riding the Storm, 1956–1959. New York: Harper and Row, 1971.
    • Murphy, Robert. Diplomat Among Warriors. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1964.