Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, Western Europe and Canada, Volume VI, Part 2

765.00/3–454

No. 765
Memorandum by the President to the Acting Secretary of State

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Washington, March 4, 1954.

Just after the completion of the Security Council meeting this morning, I was visited by a man just returned from Europe.¹ He is a man who is a good observer.

He suggested two things:

(a). That the governments and people of Europe be reassured in emphatic terms as to the continuity and stability of American foreign policy as it affects that region. This recommendation, you will note, is in exact accord with the decision of the Security Council this morning,² except that it also raises the question as to whether the statement that we are preparing should be made public after its dispatch to the several governments.

(b). He felt that some developments of the past ten days or two weeks made even more imminent the possible crisis in Italy. He felt that we must “do something” positive and quickly to improve pro-American sentiment in that country. He said that only recently the eighty-year old Sturzo (I hope that is close enough to the spelling that you can identify the individual—I believe he founded the Christian Democrat Party) had made a magnificent speech favorable to us, but that on the whole he believed the situation was deteriorating somewhat. This he believed was because of the failure of the Russians to make progress in their open attacks at Berlin and that they now were intensifying their efforts in Italy in order to salvage something out of the wreck.

. . . . . . .

In any event, I should like to have from your Department a summation of any recent changes they know in the Italian scene as it affects our policies and interests.

D.E.

1. Eisenhower’s daily appointment record for Mar. 4 indicates that the NSC meeting was held at 10 a.m. The next entry was the following: “12:45. General Ed Clark of New York (off-the-record).” (Eisenhower Library, Eisenhower records, “Daily Appointments”)
2. Reference is to the NSC decision to give written assurances to the French Government in connection with the European Defense Community as to the retention of U.S. forces in Europe and continued U.S. participation in NATO.