Office of the Historian

46. Memorandum of Conversation0

MC-12
New York, September 26, 1958, 3 p.m.

SECRETARY’S TRIP TO NEW YORK1

PARTICIPANTS

  • United States
    • The Secretary
    • Mr. Greene
  • France
    • Foreign Minister Couve de Murville
    • Ambassador Hervé Alphand

SUBJECT

  • Expansion of NATO

The Secretary referred to General de Gaulle’s letter of September 17 to President Eisenhower2 and recalled that he had explained to Ambassador Alphand that it raised major problems which would have to be carefully studied within the United States Government.3 It seemed to the Secretary that the proposal represents a search for a more responsible and dependable way to deal with the problems of the world, or at least a part of it, than is now offered by the United Nations. He noted that the United States Government has been giving thought to the future of the United Nations just because its prospects do seem dim. The Foreign Minister said that he thought General de Gaulle was concerned with how better to organize the Western world and the Western alliance.

The Foreign Minister told the Secretary that General de Gaulle had showed to Spaak, in greatest confidence, his (de Gaulle’s) memorandum which he had sent to President Eisenhower and Prime Minister Macmillan on September 17.4

  1. Source: Department of State, Secretary’s Memoranda of Conversation: Lot 64 D199. Secret; Presidential Handling. Drafted by Greene. This meeting was held at the Waldorf Astoria.↩
  2. Dulles was in New York to deliver a speech.↩
  3. Document 45.↩
  4. The memorandum of Dulles’ conversation with Alphand on September 25 has not been found, but see the source note, Document 45.↩
  5. Dulles discussed the de Gaulle memorandum with Norstad that morning; see Part 1, Document 156.↩