359. Letter From Robert Blum of the Office of the Secretary of Defense to Allen W. Dulles0
Dear Allen: Twenty copies of the report were given to Mr. Souers yesterday, along with the signed letter of transmittal.
As of this morning, it was Souers’ intention to send one copy to each Member of the NSC and one copy to Hillenkoetter with a request for his comments. Because of the nature of the report, it is pretty difficult for the NSC to take any simple action on it and the intelligent handling of the [Page 912] report may prove to be rather difficult unless the single question of personalities is faced immediately.
Souers told me yesterday that in his conversations with the President, he (Souers) took the view that nothing should be done to bring about a change of Director until a qualified successor had been found. At a meeting this morning, Hillenkoetter suggested that the Eberstadt Committee material on intelligence should be circulated at the same time as the Survey Group Report. He mentioned in particular that whereas the Eberstadt Committee recommended simplification of administration in the interest of efficiency, he understood from his conversation with you that the Survey Group would recommend decentralization (Hillenkoetter had not yet seen a copy of the report). However, this suggestion was not accepted by Souers, who said that Hillenkoetter, in his comments on the Survey Group Report—the only report officially before the NSC—could, if he wished, refer to the Eberstadt Committee Report.
Forrestal has not yet seen the report, but I hope to have him read it over the weekend.
I will keep you informed of any further developments.
Sincerely yours,
- Source: Central Intelligence Agency Records, Job 80-M01009A, Box 1, Folder 12. No classification marking.↩