66. Memorandum of conference with the President1
OTHERS PRESENT
- General Twining
- General Goodpaster
General Twining reported that General Cutler is recalling copies of instructions regarding the Net Evaluation Sub-Committee’s next effort in order to edit one provision. A small follow-up study will be made after the main project, and an oral report will be given to the President on that phase.
General Twining said that Secretary McElroy has read in full Admiral Burke’s testimony on defense reorganization. His general feeling is that Admiral Burke had done well in his testimony, but did not go “down the line” as some of the others had. General Pate goes up to testify this week, and there is more concern regarding his appearance. General Twining next mentioned a direct leak to Hanson Baldwin of some of the proceedings in a very private meeting Mr. McElroy had held with the Chiefs and Secretaries last week, with no one else present. This matter is being pursued.
Next General Twining reported that the President’s talk at Quantico had a very fine effect on the participants—it gave them a shot in the arm in stirring up interest in the meeting, and what the President had to say, as well as his personal vigor and force in saying it, had a profound impact on the participants.
The JCS are starting work tomorrow on the budget guidelines for fiscal year 1960. General Twining has told the Chiefs that if they do not turn in a satisfactory job on the guidelines, the Secretary will make the determination himself.
The President referred briefly to additions that the Congress is proposing in the FY–59 budget. He said that the talk that having one more division in reserve in the United States makes a great difference in our small war capability is meaningless to him. Also, he said we [Facsimile Page 2] are apparently planning to “kill every Russian three times” in the development of our forces for massive retaliatory attack; because the Polaris looks like a promising weapon, to be fired from under water, we are hurrying into construction of nine submarines, without apparent study of the capability as a whole. Finally, he said that statements [Typeset Page 237] such as Sam Anderson’s regarding “shooting the moon” in August are very harmful, and muddy the water. We have gone to great effort to make this project a scientific project under ARPA direction and cognizance.
The President said it is clear to him that we are all going to have to think a great deal more of national solvency. General Twining said the Quantico meeting was useful in that respect. There was greater consciousness of this factor as a result. He indicated that the Secretary stated if he could not get such a program from the JCS he would do the job himself—he stressed that we must cut out some of the duplicatory weapons systems we have carried through the development stage.
Finally, the President suggested that General Twining stress some theme such as “security and solvency demand unity” in our defense effort, at every opportunity. Apparently it takes persistence to get such a point across. He added he would like to see Admiral Radford do some speaking on this—his testimony had been very effective. General Twining said he had been taking the line that economy and defense go hand in hand and that if one is destroyed the other must also be lost. In concluding, the President said that our country can afford what is needed for defense, but it cannot afford the costs that might be added by wastefulness.
Brigadier General, USA
- Source: Defense reorganization, FY 1959 Defense budget. Secret. 2 pp. Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, DDE Diaries.↩