241. Editorial Note
President Eisenhower and Secretary of State Herter met at the White House, January 23, 1960, at 8:30 a.m., to confer on disarmament matters. Their discussion was recorded by Herter in three separate memoranda of conversation. The first deals with strategy for the upcoming Ten-Nation Committee on Disarmament meeting in Geneva, March 15, and reads as follows:
“In a conversation with the President this morning, I discussed with him at some length procedures with respect to instructions for our negotiating group headed by Mr. Eaton, who meet on Monday [January 25] with representatives of the other four nations involved in an effort to reach a common position before the March 15 conference with the Soviet Bloc countries in Geneva. I told him that I felt it would be a long and difficult process to achieve agreement with the Defense Department on a detailed program and that, from the point of view of proceeding, it would be best if Mr. Eaton could isolate in the discussions with our Allies points on which he or a representative of Defense who would be sitting with him, felt there might be real objections on the part of Defense. I added that, of course, when unresolved specific points came up we, together with Defense, would bring them to him for resolution.
“He agreed with this procedure. He likewise agreed that we should try to work out some proposal which we could make to the Russians which would have a good public relations impact but that for the initial stages we should confine ourselves to trying to reach agreement on such matters as might be quickly implemented, and that no commitments should be made in so-called “package” form of specific steps leading from the first initial stages to the final disarmament. “(Eisenhower Library, Herter Papers, Meetings with the President) See the Supplement.
The second relates to a draft objectives paper for the Ten-Nation meeting and reads as follows:
“The President this morning approved the draft of a disarmament objectives paper. Although we discussed at some length the question of an international police force, it was finally agreed that it would be best not to try to spell out any details and to leave the language as it stood, subject, of course, to revision in consultation with the Five-Power disarmament group. I likewise told him I would send to General Goodpaster our own communication to the Department of Defense containing some of our ideas, as well as the British specific disarmament proposals which had been made at the meeting held by myself with the ambassadors of the other four nations on Monday, January 18. “(Eisenhower Library, Herter Papers, Meetings with the President) See the Supplement.
[Page 833]A subsequent draft of the “objectives paper,” February 8, styled “Working Paper” and initialed by Eisenhower, is in the Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, Eisenhower Diaries. See the Supplement. The meeting with the Ambassadors is described in a memorandum of conversation by Spiers, January 18. (Department of State, Secretary’s Memoranda of Conversation: Lot 64 D 199)
The final memorandum prepared by Herter deals with the reply to Lloyd’s January 14 letter (see footnote 2, Document 240). It reads:
“In a conversation with the President this morning, he approved the draft of the letter to Selwyn Lloyd on the Nuclear Test negotiations with the inclusion of the sentence which stated that he had been consulted and approved of the policy outlined.” (Eisenhower Library, Herter Papers, Meetings with the President) See the Supplement. In the letter to Lloyd as sent on January 23, Herter described the threshold concept and the U.S. proposals not as a limited treaty, but as a phased approach to a comprehensive treaty, and he rejected Lloyd’s suggestion for a temporary moratorium on all underground testing. (Department of State, Presidential Correspondence: Lot 66 D 204, Dulles/Herter—U.K. Officials) See the Supplement.