Presidential Papers, Doc#148 To Emperor Haile Selassie I, 22 April 1953. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower
<--PREV
Doc #147		  |  Memorial Commission
Home Page		  |  First Term
Table of Contents		  |  Presidential Papers
Home Page 		 | 
Doc#
 |  NEXT-->
Doc #149

Document #148; April 22, 1953
To Emperor Haile Selassie I
Series: EM, AWF, International Series
The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XIV - The Presidency: The Middle Way
Part I: Charting a New Course; January 1953 to April 1953
Chapter 2: "A number of misunderstandings": Party and International Struggles

 
Great and Good Friend:1 I greatly appreciate the greetings and wishes from Your Imperial Majesty conveyed in the letter of March 14, 1953, which was presented to me on April 10, 1953, by Your Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ato Aklilou Abte Wold.2 It is my great desire, as President of the United States of America, to fulfill those high duties and responsibilities and to help to create, as mentioned in Your letter, conditions of increased stability in world affairs and to strengthen collective security and international justice.3

I have noted with particular satisfaction the happy relations existing between our two Governments. In particular, I am impressed by the considerable contribution of the Ethiopian armed forces to the common effort in Korea, for which Your Imperial Majesty deserves the greatest credit.4 The military experience gained in Korea, by increasing the effectiveness of the Ethiopian forces, also contributes to the security of Your country, which must redound to the esteem of Your Imperial Majesty. This is evidence once more of the wisdom, statesmanship and foresight which have so impressed the world and which promise that Ethiopia will follow the path of progress and freedom under Your leadership.

It is my hope, also, that the cooperation and collaboration between our Governments may be strengthened and extended on the basis of mutual understanding, responsibilities and benefits so that the world we help to fashion will be built on firm foundations of security and justice.5

With the expression of my most sincere wishes for Your continued well-being and the successful development of Your country. Your Good Friend

1 The Ethiopian monarch, born in 1891 and crowned emperor in 1930, reigned over a country that the Italians had conquered in 1936 and the British, after liberating, had evacuated in 1948.

2 Selassie's letter is not in this file.

3 The Eisenhower Administration had resumed negotiations with Ethiopia over U.S. base rights in Eritrea, recently federated with Selassie's kingdom, and the Ethiopian government's longstanding request for U.S. military aid, a request that the JCS had rejected in the spring of 1952. On April 6 Under Secretary of State Walter Bedell Smith had written Secretary of Defense Wilson arguing that Ethiopia was now eligible for such aid. Smith asked the Defense Department to join in a recommendation that the U.S. grant Ethiopia up to $5 million in military assistance "with the understanding that Ethiopia would be required to purchase as much of the equipment needed as it can reasonably afford"; he urged a decision during the Ethiopian foreign minister's current visit to Washington (State, Foreign Relations, 1952-1954, vol. XI, Africa and South Asia, pt. 1, pp. 442-45).

4 The Ethiopian government had sent a contingent of twelve hundred troops to Korea.

5 On May 8 the Defense Department would agree to send military equipment and a military advisory group to Ethiopia. The Eisenhower Administration and Selassie's government would sign the formal pact, which included secret provisions for U.S. bases, on May 22 (ibid., pp. 449-51; New York Times, May 23, 1953).

Bibliographic reference to this document:
Eisenhower, Dwight D. To Emperor Haile Selassie I, 22 April 1953. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 148. 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/148.cfm

<--PREV
Doc #147		  |  Memorial Commission
Home Page		  |  First Term
Table of Contents		  |  Presidential Papers
Home Page 		 | 
Doc#
 |  NEXT-->
Doc #149
 


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