60. Memorandum of Telephone Conversation Between President Eisenhower and Secretary of State Dulles0
I reported I was back on the job and that I had just finished an extensive conference with Mr. Herter, Mr. Parsons, and Mr. Marshall Green1 about the Taiwan Straits situation. I expressed the view that we were not getting adequate reliable information about the position there; for example, whether there was really interdiction of supply. The President seemed to think that we had quite a little information and he expressed some annoyance over what he considered to be Chiang’s pressure to get us involved. I said that I would try to get more fully informed about the situation but that certainly on the basis of the briefing reports made to me so far, there seemed to be considerable confusion about some of the vital facts. I indicated it might be useful if I had a chance to talk shortly with the President. The President said he would welcome this and asked if I would want to come tomorrow (Tuesday).2 I said I thought it would be more useful for me to have a day or two to get up to date on facts. The President said he might be going off on an all-day excursion on Wednesday and tentatively suggested Thursday at 3 p.m. as a good time.
I asked the President if he planned a press conference. He said he had no plans but might have one if there was a real need for such a conference.
- Source: Eisenhower Library, Dulles Papers, White House Telephone Conversations. Secret; Personal and Private. The President was in Newport, Rhode Island; the Secretary had returned that day to Washington.↩
- Mr. Loy Henderson was also present at this meeting. [Footnote in the source text.]↩
- September 2.↩