Office of the Historian

Conference files, lot 60 D 627, CF 398

No. 675
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs (Merchant)1

confidential
Washington, November 20, 1954.
  • Subject: UN Debate on North Africa

Participants:

  • Premier Mendès-France
  • Ambassador Bonnet
  • The Secretary
  • Livingston T. Merchant

The Premier expressed the hope that before and during the General Assembly debate on North Africa the French and U.S. Delegations would keep in close touch with each other. He said that he hoped the Tunisian matter would be settled by the time the debate opened and that this of course would be helpful. He referred to the fact that we had been extremely helpful in supporting the French position last week and he implied that he hoped similar support would be forthcoming at this session.

  1. According to the Secretary’s appointment book, Mendès-France and Bonnet met with Dulles and Merchant in Dulles’ office at 10:04 a.m. on Nov. 20 preceding the Fourth Plenary Meeting. (Princeton University, Dulles papers, “Dulles’ Appointment Book”) It was presumably at this meeting that the discussion of this and the subjects summarized in the following five memoranda of conversation took place.↩