Office of the Historian

116. Letter From the Deputy Secretary of Defense (Robertson) to the President1

Washington, February 10, 1956.

My Dear Mr. President: I have received from Mr. Stassen’s office a copy of his Memorandum to you dated February 8, 1956, subject [Page 342] “Letter to Bulganin on ‘Disarmament’.“2 This Memorandum, with a revision of the Bulganin letter attached, states that the letter has been revised taking into account all of the departmental comments received and the discussion on February 7, 1956.3

In my written comments4 and in our discussion of 7 February it was the position of the Department of Defense that we should avoid any commitment to reduce our forces except as a part of a comprehensive plan for the regulation and reduction of armaments and armed forces. The Department of Defense comments also pointed out the undesirability of undertaking a reciprocal test inspection or an exchange of technical missions prior to Soviet acceptance of your Geneva blueprint proposal. It is my view that the revision forwarded to you is not fully responsive to these considerations.

I fully concur in the desirability of an early decision on this matter. However, as I indicated to Mr. Stassen in my letter dated 7 February 1956, I consider this subject of such importance to the security of the United States as to merit full review by the National Security Council. Accordingly, I respectfully recommend that the proposed letter to Mr. Bulganin be formally referred to the Council for further consideration prior to its being sent.5

With great respect, I am

Faithfully yours,

Reuben B. Robertson, Jr.
  1. Source: Eisenhower Library, Whitman File. Secret.↩
  2. See footnote 3, supra.↩
  3. See Document 111.↩
  4. Robertson’s written comments, presumably the same as those contained in his letter to Stassen, February 7, mentioned in this letter, have not been found in the Eisenhower Library or Department of State files.↩

  5. In a memorandum for the record, February 11, Goodpaster wrote:

    “I showed Secretary Robertson’s letter to the President, who asked me to check to see if the Secretary of State had a copy of it. He said he had understood yesterday from the Secretary of State that the points raised by Defense had all been cleared up. I called the Secretary of State, found he did not have a copy, and sent him one, also advising him of the President’s comment.” (Eisenhower Library, Staff Secretary Records, Disarmament)

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