Presidential Papers, Doc#1479 Personal and confidential To William Winthrop Aldrich, 16 June 1955. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower
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Doc #1480

Document #1479; June 16, 1955
To William Winthrop Aldrich
Series: EM, AWF, Administration Series ; Category: Personal and confidential
The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XVI - The Presidency: The Middle Way
Part VIII: Toward "statesmanship of a high order"; June 1955 to November 1955
Chapter 16: Summitry at Geneva

 

Dear Winthrop: Thank you for your personal letter giving me your opinions on the value of my making a stop in London.1

I have not wanted to stress to outsiders the real reason why I could not do so. The principal one, of course, is the embarrassing position I would be in should I accept this invitation after having flatly declined in several other cases. I am sure that in one or two instances the other governments would be most sensitive over such a development.2 (Incidentally, in view of some of the strange happenings lately, it might not be beyond the realm of possibility that after visiting London I should receive an invitation from Moscow. Then what would I say?)

Possibly I've already told you that my brother (Milton) and his daughter of about seventeen will be travelling in Europe this summer.3 He will, I suppose, pay a call on you. But he will not be looking for any special or VIP treatment. This I assure you. But you two may have a nice talk.

Again I want to tell you how much I appreciated your letter.

With warm regard, As ever

1 For background see no. 1454. In a June 8 cable to Eisenhower and Dulles, Aldrich had relayed the information that the Queen had authorized Prime Minister Eden to invite the President to visit Great Britain (AWF/A). In his personal letter to the President (June 9) Ambassador Aldrich had said that although he did "not want to labor the point, much less press it," he was convinced of the beneficial effects of even a brief visit. He hoped Eisenhower would consider it seriously (ibid.).

2 Eisenhower had received invitations from the governments of Spain and Italy (see Memorandum of Conversation, June 14, 1955, Dulles Papers, White House Memoranda Series). Secretary Dulles had asked Aldrich to "explain sympathetically to Eden" that the President could not accept the invitation (Dulles to Aldrich, June 9, 1955, ibid.; see also Memorandum of Conversation, June 14, 1955, Dulles Papers, White House Memoranda Series; and Telephone conversation, Eisenhower and Dulles, June 13, 1955, Dulles Papers, Telephone Conversations).

3 For more on Milton Eisenhower's trip to Europe see no. 1473.

Bibliographic reference to this document:
Eisenhower, Dwight D. Personal and confidential To William Winthrop Aldrich, 16 June 1955. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 1479. 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/1479.cfm

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