195. Memorandum of a Meeting Between the President and Legislative Leaders, The White House, Washington, December 13, 19551
The following were present from Congress: Johnson, Knowland, Saltonstall, Bridges, Wiley, George, Russell, Hayden, Byrd, Rayburn, Taber, Cannon, Martin, Arends, Halleck, Leo Allen, Richards, Chiperfield, McCormack, Reed, Vinson, Albert and Cooper.2
Once again the President was eloquent in behalf of the information program. He said, “I sincerely want to ask for more money for this work—a 50% increase.”
He again spoke of the change in the type of Soviet attack. It is now more in the economic area and in the area of propaganda.
He spoke about the United States early trials and errors in this field—how we had to jump into it on an emergency basis to fight the Communist propaganda—how there were many wrong people who got into the work and how there were many inefficient and ill-considered programs.
However, that is all different now. We have learned a great deal in this work. Streibert has made it efficient and given it very thorough going direction. He has gone into all the different types of programs, the President said: radio, films, publications and all the rest. There are always going to be things to find fault with in this type of endeavor, but by and large we are ready now to step it up significantly.
The President emphasized how important an aggressive information program is in the support of all our other foreign activities: our foreign policy and diplomacy, economic aid, military aid and all the other programs we have overseas.
The President said: “I am personally convinced that this is the cheapest money we can spend in the whole area of national security. [Page 563] This field is of vital importance in the world struggle. I know that we Americans recoil by nature from the idea of ‘propaganda’. But it is a necessity in the present kind of struggle we are in.”
He then asked if I was prepared to speak about the new program. I said I was and talked for three or four minutes, mentioning the increase in Communist radio output over the past 12 months—an increase of 360 hours per week bringing their present total output to 1883 hours a week; also the increase in trade fair participation to 70 fairs in 1955, 17 more than last year; an increase in exchange of persons and in the number of cultural presentations they are sending abroad; likewise their step up in the flood of cheap books, and also in the number of official delegations to and from the Iron Curtain countries including the imposing list of State visits of the top Soviet leaders, who are out on the hustings wooing these other countries with smiles and offers of economic aid and trade, and posing as apostles of friendship and peace.
I said that there is an enormous task in getting the United States’ story understood abroad—particularly our dedication and devotion to peace.
Mr. Taber asked again for the figures on the Communist radio step up. And the President asked how many transmitters they have in the Soviet Union. This was a stumper, but I mentioned that they had over 1,000 transmitters just for jamming alone.
The President then asked me to speak about some of the specific items and I mentioned the roughly $10 million to publicize abroad the United States “positive programs for peace” (Atoms for Peace, Mutual Inspection for Peace, and Secretary Dulles’ concept of peaceful “change”). I also covered the low-priced book program3 and the necessity for us to put 5 and 10¢ books on the democratic ideology into the hands of students and laborers in countries overseas; also the $4 million increase for television activities, with a brief reference to the feverish Soviet activity in this field; also the increases for NEA and FE with particular emphasis on unattributed activities through indigenous groups and local governments.
I also mentioned the increase for radio broadcasting behind the Iron Curtain, and the President himself called attention to the increase for Latin America to offset the Communist effort there.
The President then said: “I do hope that we can have strong support from both sides of the aisle for this information work. I feel deeply that we should have this 50% increase.”
[Page 564]At this point, “Mr. Sam”,4 said “Mr. President, I think you should have it and I’d like to see you get it. We have always lagged and taken a licking in this field of propaganda. It is very important.”
This positive statement, following everything that the President had said, really buttoned it up—and there were not even any further questions.
Hagerty’s release on the meeting is attached.5
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Source: Department of State, USIA/IOP Files: Lot 61 D 445, White House Correspondence. Confidential. Drafted by Washbum. Attached to a covering memorandum of December 20 from Andrew Berding, Chief of IOP, to George Hellyer, Information Area of the Far East (hereafter, IAF). Berding suggested “that in your conversations with Ambassadors in the Far East next month a most effective way to begin would be with the President’s strong feeling with regard to an increased USIA effort.” Also appended to the December 20 note was a copy of the December 13 press release on the meeting by White House Press Secretary James Hagerty.
A second account of this meeting appears in a memorandum of December 13 entitled “Bipartisan Legislative Leaders Meeting” by L.A. Minnich, Jr. (Eisenhower Library, Whitman Files, Legislative Meetings, 1955)
↩ - Senators Alexander Wiley (R–Wis.), Walter George (D–Ga.), Richard B. Russell (D–Ga.), Carl Hayden (D–Ariz.), Harry F. Byrd (D–Va.), and Representatives Sam Raybum (D–Tex.), John Taber (R–N.Y.), Clarence Cannon (D–Mo.), James P. Richards (D–S.C.), Robert B. Chiperfield (R–III.), John W. McCormack (D–Mass.), Daniel Reed (R–N.Y.), Carl Vinson (D–Ga.), Carl Albert (D–Okla.), and Jere Cooper (D–Tenn.).↩
- An account of the low-priced book program is in a December 27, 1956, memorandum from Staats to the OCB Assistants. (Department of State, OCB Files: Lot 62 D 430, Miscellaneous)↩
- Reference is to Speaker of the House of Representatives Sam Rayburn.↩
- Not printed.↩