Office of the Historian

146. Telegram From the Embassy in the Soviet Union to the Department of State1

Moscow, October 30, 1956—10 p.m.

1005. Personal for the Secretary from Ambassador Bohlen. Embtel 993.2 I had occasion to act on instructions contained Deptel 5103 with Zhukov and Molotov. I did not have opportunity to do so with Bulganin or Khrushchev, although both were present reception, since it would have required special effort on my part which I thought undesirable under watchful eyes correspondents and Dip Corps in view last paragraph.

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I told Zhukov and Molotov I wanted to direct their attention to your Dallas speech and paragraph in it concerning our policy in regard to Eastern European countries and gave them from memory translation text paragraph.

Molotov listened and made no particular comment, but said he would look up speech in question which he felt sure they had from press reports. Zhukov, however, said that he found difficult to reconcile this statement with President’s encouragement “rebels” in Hungary which he thought represented interference Hungarian internal affairs. I said President’s statement was general and reflected feelings American people and in any case words were less of intervention than bullets, to which Zhukov made no reply.

Bohlen
  1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 611 00/10–3056. Top Secret; Limit Distribution. On the copy in the Eisenhower Library, Goodpaster wrote “Pres has seen.” (Whitman File, Dulles–Herter Series)↩
  2. In telegram 993 from Moscow October 30, Bohlen indicated that he intended to approach the Soviet leaders at the 6 p.m. Kremlin reception for the visiting Afghan Prime Minister in order to call their attention to the Secretary’s Dallas speech. (Department of State, Central Files, 611.00/10–3056)↩
  3. Document 134.↩