310. Memorandum of Telephone Conversation Between President Eisenhower and Secretary of State Herter0
11:55—The President telephoned to say he had just been reading about our deteriorating relations with Canada, which was something he had not been aware of; that we have done so much to keep good relations. The Secretary said he had not been aware of this either; that we have had many meetings with the Canadians and they all went off well. The President said he has not had Diefenbaker down here and, while he is merely a Prime Minister, the President thought he could give him a little more of the red carpet treatment since he is the Prime Minister of such a close neighbor. The President said if we could get him down, the President would be glad to give him a dinner, but would try to avoid Diefenbaker returning the dinner. The President said if he had him for some conversations and a dinner that that would be all he would need to do. The Secretary agreed and said he thought Diefenbaker would be very pleased if this could be worked out. After a brief discussion of how best to approach Diefenbaker, it was agreed it would probably be best for the Secretary to talk with Ambassador Wigglesworth in Ottawa.1
[Here follow three paragraphs summarizing two subsequent telephone calls between the President and the Secretary of State.]
- Source: Eisenhower Library, Herter Papers, Telephone Conversations. No classification marking.↩
- In subsequent telephone conversations with the White House and Ambassador Heeney, Herter discovered that no date for Diefenbaker’s visit could be found until June when the Prime Minister would be visiting De Pauw University to accept an honorary degree. The meeting was then scheduled for June 3. (Ibid., Dulles–Herter Series, and Project Clean Up)↩