104. Memorandum of Conference With President Eisenhower0
OTHERS PRESENT
- Secretary Dulles
- Secretary Herter
- Mr. Greene
- Mr. Hagerty
- General Goodpaster
- Major Eisenhower
[Here follows discussion of unrelated matters.]
The discussion then turned to a message which Secretary Dulles had received from Chancellor Adenauer earlier in the day.1 (The letter had been summarized in the Daily Staff Summary,2 and the President was familiar with it.) As regards this letter, Secretary Dulles expressed the opinion that our best argument against the USSR is that the USSR has served notice that in six months they will unilaterally repudiate a four-power agreement, a thing which they have no right to do. In the light of the threatening nature of the November 27 Soviet note, Secretary Dulles does not recommend negotiations under these conditions. We can meet later, but in the meantime, the status quo must stand and be recognized.
The President stated, with respect to the Adenauer letter, only that he agreed on the separation of the subjects of Berlin and unification of Germany. He agrees that the issues are separate and distinct. Some discussion then transpired as to the situation in the British foreign office, with an effort to explain recent inconsistencies. The President was of the opinion that the British government is, at the moment, confused.
[Here follows discussion of unrelated matters.]
- Source: Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, DDE Diaries. Top Secret. Drafted by Major John Eisenhower on December 15.↩
- Document 99.↩
- A copy of the State Department Daily Summary for December 12 is in Department of State, Executive Secretariat Files: Lot 64 D 187.↩