365. Editorial Note
President Eisenhower visited Europe August 26–September 7 to consult with the Western allies prior to Premier Khrushchev’s trip to the United States in September. After meeting with Chancellor Adenauer in Bonn August 26–27, the President, accompanied by Secretary of State Herter and Deputy Secretary of Defense Thomas S. Gates, Jr., arrived in London for a 6-day visit. On September 2, Eisenhower flew to Paris for talks with President de Gaulle; Joseph M.A.H. Luns, President of the North Atlantic Council; Paul-Henri Spaak, Secretary General of NATO; and Prime Minister Antonio Segni and Foreign Minister Guiseppe Pella of Italy. President Eisenhower returned to Washington on September 7.
In the United Kingdom, the President spent the first evening of his visit at the residence of Ambassador Whitney in London. The next day, August 28, he flew to Scotland where he was the guest of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip at Balmoral Castle. In London that day, Secretary Herter and Foreign Secretary Lloyd met at the Foreign Office to discuss the situation in the Middle East and disarmament questions. Copies of the memoranda of these conversations are in Department of State, Secretary’s Memoranda of Conversation: Lot 64 D 199.
[Page 850]On August 29, Eisenhower joined Macmillan at the Prime Minister’s home, Chequers, for a 2-day visit. The two men, with their advisers, discussed disarmament, nuclear testing, NATO, and forthcoming exchange of visits between Eisenhower and Khrushchev, among other topics; see Documents 366–367. Eisenhower returned to London on August 31 where he met with Spanish Foreign Minister Fernando Castiella to discuss U.S. economic and military assistance to Spain; see Document 315. That evening, Eisenhower and Macmillan appeared in a television broadcast from the Prime Minister’s residence at 10 Downing Street. During their 20-minute informal talk, the two leaders discussed a number of topics, including U.S.–U.K. relations, the prospects for a summit conference, and NATO.
The President spent September 1 at the residence of Ambassador Whitney. The chronologies of the President’s trip to the United Kingdom and briefing papers prepared for him in the Department of State on the subjects to be covered in his talks with British leaders are in Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 64 D 560, CF 1440, 1449, 1452, 1453, and 1455. John S. D. Eisenhower’s account of the President’s visit to the United Kingdom is in Strictly Personal, pages 237–238 and 243–248.