<--PREV Doc #226  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  First Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #228 Document #227; June 4, 1953 To Winston Spencer Churchill Series: EM, AWF, International Series: Churchill ; Category: Cable 7743. Secret The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XIV - The Presidency: The Middle Way Part II: Settling into "the long pull"; May 1953 to August 1953 Chapter 4: Striving for Unity   Dear Winston: I fully agree with you that June 29 should be our target date for Bermuda and that the meeting should last about four days.1 Foster will of course come with me and he will be accompanied by a small group of advisers, generally corresponding to the group which Makins has indicated will accompany you.2 Douglas MacArthur II, who is Counselor of the Department of State, will be the opposite number of Norman Brooke and will coordinate details for us.3 Brooke can get in touch with him at any time. I understand through Makins that your view is that the purpose of the meeting should be announced as one of a general exchange of views and that it will be informal and without official agenda. I agree with this. Regarding your suggestion that there be no daily press briefings, I do believe there will have to be some sort of daily briefings of the press by the three press officers, even if not much of substance is handed out. In fact, I think it would be good for the press to know that we are getting along well together. I am instructing my people to discuss the substance and the timing of the announcement as well as press arrangements with your representatives here, and of course this as well as other matters such as the June 29 date will have to be coordinated with the French.4 My plane will be flying to Bermuda about mid-June, returning the following day, and Makins might desire to send Gore-Booth or some other representative on this short trip for a preview of preliminary arrangements.5 As Makins is accompanying you, I will probably have to invite Ambassadors Aldrich and Dillon, but these two and any additions that we may have to make would not impose on your hospitality, as they can be accommodated at our air base in Bermuda.6 With warmest regards 1 Late the morning of June 3 Eisenhower and Dulles had met to discuss the contemplated Bermuda conference (see nos. 199, 213, and 225). Shortly after noon Churchill telephoned the President to set a firm date for the meetings. Eisenhower recommended informing the French that the United States and Britain planned to convene on June 29, "hoping they would be ready at that time"; he emphasized the importance of including the new French government in the talks (Memorandum of telecon, June 3, 1953, AWF/I: Churchill). Eisenhower wired this message to the British Prime Minister. 2 Roger Makins was British Ambassador in Washington. 3 For background on MacArthur, General Douglas MacArthur's nephew and namesake, see Galambos, NATO and the Campaign of 1952, nos. 32 and 996. Sir Norman Craven Brook had been Secretary of the British cabinet since 1947. 4 Immediately after sending this telegram, Dulles wired Churchill a supplementary message noting that the United States intended to avoid "giving any public impression that arrangements regarding Bermuda are being finalized while French Gov[ernmen]t in process of formation. We hope you will think it appropriate to adopt same attitude so as to avoid giving possible offense at this sensitive moment" (Dulles to Churchill, June 4, 1953, AWF/I: Churchill). Writing on Eisenhower's behalf the next day, Dulles would stress the view that "we must in the last analysis be prepared to accommodate ourselves to the French situation and not seem to put them under external pressures as they are solving their governmental problem at home" (Eisenhower to Dulles, June 4, and Eisenhower to Churchill, June 5, 1953, ibid.). 5 Paul Henry Gore-Booth served as head of the British Information Services in the United States. In early August he would be named Ambassador to Burma (New York Times, Aug. 3, 1953). 6 U.S. Ambassadors to Great Britain and France. Bibliographic reference to this document: Eisenhower, Dwight D. Cable 7743. Secret To Winston Spencer Churchill, 4 June 1953. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 227. 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/227.cfm <--PREV Doc #226  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  First Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #228

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