469. Memorandum From the Under Secretary of State (Hoover) to the Secretary of State1
The President called me at 12:20 p.m. today and said that he would like to meet with you when you got in from New York.2
He suggested, unless you have a better proposal, that we might put in another resolution calling for an Arbitration Commission to examine not only this specific outbreak but the entire Middle East situation. If the UN would want him to, the President would be willing to meet with Nehru, just the two of them, because he thought they came closer to commanding the respect of the world and it would make it difficult for the world to turn down our proposal. He would be willing to go anywhere for this meeting, Geneva, London, Greece, or anywhere else.
The President feels we are on the right track. Therefore, he is willing to do anything. He thinks we have got to keep up the momentum, and this would be very spectacular.
- Source: Eisenhower Library, Dulles Papers, Meetings with the President. Secret; Eyes Only; Personal and Private.↩
- According to Dulles’ Appointment Book, he returned by air from New York at approximately 2 p.m. (Princeton University Library, Dulles Papers) Earlier in the day, Hoover had discussed with President Eisenhower over the telephone possible responses to letters from the Indian, Libyan, and Ceylonese Governments on the Middle East situation. Memoranda of Hoover’s three conversations with Eisenhower are in Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, Eisenhower Diaries.↩