<--PREV Doc #1488  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  First Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #1490 Document #1489; June 29, 1955 To Alfred Maximilian Gruenther Series: Gruenther Papers 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 Al: I know you have been wondering what happened to the proposed letter to the Advertising Council. Several members of the staff here advised against my sending any such letter at this time. Apparently the Advertising Council has no money with which to conduct a campaign of the kind we discussed, and the staff does not feel that it would be appropriate for me to volunteer my services in the matter of fund raising.1 So there the matter rests. Apparently you and Bob Schulz and Jim Rowley had quite a lovely dream.2 At the moment all plans are uncertain, waiting mainly on Mamie's decision as to whether or not she will accompany me. With warm regard, As ever P.S. Mamie has told me, however, that if she does come to Europe, she intends to go on through with me--that is, to Geneva. Because of complications of which you are aware, I simply could not stop in Paris.3 This makes me very sad. 1 Gruenther had informed the President on June 8 that the Advertising Council was considering a campaign on behalf of NATO (AWF/A). Council representatives had suggested that a letter from Eisenhower supporting the proposal would be helpful, and Gruenther had asked C. D. Jackson to draft a letter for the President's signature. Gruenther nevertheless expressed reservations about the "appropriateness of having the President pass the hat," and several White House aides had come to the same conclusion (see Whitman to Gruenther, June 27, 1955, and other papers in AWF/A, Gruenther Corr.). 2 In a May 26 letter to the President, Gruenther had mapped out an itinerary for the Eisenhowers in an effort to convince them to visit Paris. Secret Service agent James Rowley and military aide Robert Schulz had arranged to have the Eisenhowers' former residence, the Villa St. Pierre at Marnes-la-Coquette, available for their use. While Mamie "bask[ed] in the restful atmosphere of her beloved home," Gruenther said, he and Eisenhower would make an unofficial visit to SHAPE headquarters and village. "Please understand," Gruenther wrote, "I am not trying to put the squeeze on you. . . . But you have always counseled `Don't look at the difficulties; be an optimist; use your imagination.' You'll be happy, we'll be happy, and all of Europe will be pleased. Even the fish will be glad to see you" (AWF/A). 3 Mamie Eisenhower would accompany the President to Geneva (Ambrose, Eisenhower, vol. II, The President, p. 259). On the "complications" preventing Eisenhower's trip to Paris see no. 1479. Bibliographic reference to this document: Eisenhower, Dwight D. To Alfred Maximilian Gruenther, 29 June 1955. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 1489. 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/1489.cfm <--PREV Doc #1488  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  First Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #1490

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