384. Letter From President Eisenhower to Prime Minister Macmillan0
December 10, 1960.
Dear Harold: As a result of the review which I mentioned in my message yesterday,1 you will be glad to know that our final decision, though a most difficult one, is to abstain on the Afro-Asian resolution on colonialism. We are instructing our representative to make a statement explaining our vote, which will make clear that while the wording of certain paragraphs makes it impossible for us to vote in favor of the resolution, we do support the general principles the sponsors had in mind.2
With warm regard,
As ever,
Ike3
- Source: Eisenhower Library, Staff Secretary Records, International Series. No classification marking.↩
- Not further identified.↩
- In a December 12 letter to Eisenhower, Macmillan expressed his gratitude for the U.S. decision to abstain. (Eisenhower Library, Staff Secretary’s Records, International Series) The draft resolution on colonialism was adopted by the General Assembly on December 14 as Resolution 1514 (XV) by a vote of 89 to 0, with 9 abstentions including those of the United Kingdom and the United States. For text of this resolution, see Yearbook of the United Nations, 1960, pp. 49–50.↩
- Printed from a copy that bears this typed signature.↩