Presidential Papers, Doc#1685 Diary, 12 January 1956. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower

Presidential Papers, Doc#1685 Diary, 12 January 1956. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower

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Document #1685; January 12, 1956
Diary
Series: EM, AWF, DDE Diaries Series

The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XVI - The Presidency: The Middle Way
Part IX: "Concerning my political intentions"; December 1955 to April 1956
Chapter 18: On "an almost normal schedule"

I was amazed at the National Security Council meeting to find some of our people rather bitterly opposed to the plan for continuing build-up in our raw materials reserve.¹ Their fear is inspired by a simple thing--that at some future date the government might, through unwise release of these materials on the domestic market, do untold damage to the American producers of these same items. This to me is specious reasoning. If we have a government, and a Congress, that would be guilty of this kind of action, then there would be little hope for any kind of business in America. Yet the Congress would have to be a party to such action, because the law specifically provides that items from our mobilization stock pile can be used only for emergency purposes.
On the other hand, our present stock pile program does seem to me to include a few projects that are unwarranted. One example is titanium; another is the amount of copper we are planning to obtain. I think both of these could be cut back.²

¹ For background see the preceding document. In a lengthy and sometimes heated discussion at the NSC meeting on this same day Defense Secretary Wilson had argued against maintaining the stockpiles at a level called for by a five-year war when the military plans were based on a war lasting three years. Treasury Secretary Humphrey warned the council against exchanging domestic agricultural goods for foreign stockpile materials--a procedure that could, he said, ruin the domestic mineral industry. Acquiring very large amounts of minerals and other items could give the Administration "the equivalent of a despotic power over the United States economy" (NSC meeting minutes, Jan. 13, 1956, AWF/NSC).
² Secretary Humphrey told the council that copper accounted for half of the long-term stockpile. Eisenhower had asked ODM Director Flemming to look carefully at copper purchases. The President also told the NSC that if the United States did not purchase copper from Chile, that country would sell it to the Soviet Union. For the resulting "Stockpile Policies and Programs of the U.S. Government" see State, Foreign Relations, 1955-1957, vol. X, Foreign Aid and Economic Defense Policy, pp. 575-89.

Bibliographic reference to this document:
Eisenhower, Dwight D. Diary, 12 January 1956. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 1685. 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/1685.cfm

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