Eisenhower Library, Eisenhower papers, Whitman file
Memorandum by the Secretary of State to the President
The final despatch to Clark which we sent on Sunday1 and which is contained in his communication to the Communists contained the following language:
“I share the hope you expressed that a conclusion of the exchange of sick and wounded prisoners of war during the period of hostilities would make more likely a smooth settlement of the entire prisoner of war question. Accordingly I will be prepared to instruct my liaison group as a second order of business to meet with your liaison group for a resumption of armistice negotiations by our respective delegations. We take it as implicit in your suggestion in this respect that you would be prepared to accept UNC proposals or make some comparable constructive proposal of your own which would constitute a valid basis for resumption of Delegation meetings.”
I note that you say you did not see the cable,2 but I think that you will find that it was sent to your office by the JCS in accordance with what I understand is the normal procedure in the case of an important cable sent through this agency.
I have given word of your position to Cabot Lodge who is the only person whom I can think of who might be apt to speak publicly on this subject.
In view of the mounting pressure at the UN for a quick response on the general armistice matter, we may have to give our present position some further thought, in the meantime avoiding any public statement which would indicate inflexibility. In this connection I mention a cable from Eden3 just in which on this point says:
“I do not, however, think we should at this stage insist rigidly on conclusion of exchange [of sick and wounded prisoners of war]4 before resumption of main negotiations. We should retain flexibility so as to exploit developments to our best advantage”.