Presidential Papers, Doc#1199 Secret To Arthur Sherwood Flemming, 14 December 1954. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower
<--PREV
Doc #1198		  |  Memorial Commission
Home Page		  |  First Term
Table of Contents		  |  Presidential Papers
Home Page 		 | 
Doc#
 |  NEXT-->
Doc #1200

Document #1199; December 14, 1954
To Arthur Sherwood Flemming
Series: EM, AWF, Administration Series ; Category: Secret
The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XV - The Presidency: The Middle Way
Part VI: Crises Abroad, Party Problems at Home; September 1954 to December 1954
Chapter 13: "A new phase of political experience"

 

Memorandum for the Director of Defense Mobilization: Attached is a memorandum written by the head of the FBI to the Attorney General.1 The Attorney General handed this document to me. In effect it is a unilateral plan for the evacuation of key FBI personnel in the event of an emergency. The purpose in presenting it to me was to secure specific approval of the project. Such matters as this, of course, fall under your supervisory authority. However, his presentation does bring to my mind the realization that I have not seen any specific plans to apply during the very first minutes and hours of any evacuation from this city.

Obviously the proper alarm would have to be broadcast as quickly as received. The effect would be to jam roads and possibly to make impossible the orderly and rapid evacuation of personnel essential to the continued functioning of the government. I rather think that maximum utilization of boats and helicopters might be the best answer to the problem. However, I should like to have your comments both on the overall problem and on the specific suggestions as soon as practical.2

1 We have been unable to locate this memorandum in AWF.

2 Flemming would meet with Eisenhower the following day and propose the organization of a task force to study the evacuation problem (Minnich, Memorandum of Conference, Dec. 15, 1954, AWF/A, Flemming Corr.). On January 31, 1955, at a meeting with Eisenhower, Flemming would discuss procedures regarding the wartime organization of the Executive Branch, the use of men from non-governmental sources to fill the top positions in emergency organizations, and the control over natural resources during the first days of any crisis (Memorandum of Conference, Jan. 31, 1955, AWF/A, Flemming Corr.). On March 3 the National Security Council would discuss the functioning of the government and the survival of civilians in the event of an enemy attack (NSC 5513). An ad hoc committee (organized by Special Assistant for National Security Affairs Robert Cutler) had studied the evacuation problem based on a survey of highways leading from Washington. Eisenhower requested that the Director of Civil Defense of the District of Columbia present a report on the status of civil defense plans, including those for evacuation, in the event of an emergency. The President expressed his personal gratification at the analysis that had been presented and said that "up to this time we had been floundering" (NSC meeting minutes, Mar. 4, 1955, AWF/NSC). The civil defense presentation would be made to the National Security Council on April 7 (NSC meeting minutes, Apr. 8, 1955, ibid.). For more on Eisenhower's opinions regarding evacuation procedures see Ferrell, ed., Diary of James C. Hagerty, pp. 165-66; and for developments see no. 1388.

Bibliographic reference to this document:
Eisenhower, Dwight D. Secret To Arthur Sherwood Flemming, 14 December 1954. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 1199. World Wide Web facsimile by The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission of the print edition; Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, http://www.eisenhowermemorial.org/presidential-papers/first-term/documents/1199.cfm

<--PREV
Doc #1198		  |  Memorial Commission
Home Page		  |  First Term
Table of Contents		  |  Presidential Papers
Home Page 		 | 
Doc#
 |  NEXT-->
Doc #1200
 


Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission
1629 K Street, NW Suite 801
Washington DC 20006
Phone: 202.296.0004    Fax: 202.296.6464