Office of the Historian

740.5/12–1454

Memorandum for the President by the Secretary of State1

secret
Washington, [undated].

Subject:

  • Assurances to French on Maintenance of U.S. Troops in Europe

Mendes-France has sent me word that he would like to have the assurances on the above subject, to which I referred in my statement at the London conference,2 in time for his use in the French Assembly debate on the Paris Agreements, which begins December 20. I intend to attempt to persuade Mendes-France that the text of my London statement itself, together with the statement in my letter to you of November 12,3 transmitting the Paris Agreements, that you would be disposed to act favorably on a recommendation from me regarding assurances, should be sufficient for his purpose.

I suggest, however, that you mention this matter in your briefing of the Congressional leaders on Tuesday. You might call their attention to the text of my London statement and point out that as the Europeans appear to be proceeding in good faith to ratify the Paris Agreements, it will be necessary for us to proceed along the lines I indicated in London. We will, of course, consult with them on the content of any statement which you may make prior to its release as we did in the case of the EDC.

I attach copies (a) of my statement in London and (b) the passage in my letter transmitting to you the Paris Agreements.4

  1. A handwritten notation on the source text reads as follows: “Discussed with the President at lunch 12/14/54”. Merchant recommended the position taken in the source text in a memorandum which he sent Dulles on Dec. 11 (740.5/12–1154).↩
  2. This is a reference to Dulles’ statement made during the Fourth Plenary Meeting of the Nine-Power Conference on Sept. 29; for the text of this statement, which is included as Annex ii A to the Final Act of the Nine-Power Conference, see p. 1357.↩
  3. Ante, p. 1470.↩
  4. Neither printed here, but see footnotes 2 and 3, above.↩