Presidential Papers, Doc#534 To John Foster Dulles, 9 November 1953. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower
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Doc #535

Document #534; November 9, 1953
To John Foster Dulles
Series: EM, AWF, Dulles-Herter Series
The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XIV - The Presidency: The Middle Way
Part III: The Space Age Begins; October 1957 to January 1958
Chapter 7: Beef and Budgets

 

Memorandum to the Secretary of State:1 In the matter of official precedence in Washington, including all invitations for official social affairs, I think it would be a good idea if we ranked (within the Executive Department) the Deputies and Under Secretaries of certain Departments immediately behind the Cabinet and Cabinet posts of equivalent rank. By this I mean the Deputy Secretary of Defense, the Under Secretaries of State, and possibly one or two other Deputies or Under Secretaries, as in the Treasury, for example.

This would have the effect of rating these few people above the Secretaries of Army, Navy, and Air Force, and a number of others--a practice that I believe is justified under the Defense Act as now written.2

Please let me have your reaction to this.3

1 A draft of this memorandum, with Eisenhower's handwritten changes, is in AWF/ Drafts.

2 For background on the reorganization of the Department of Defense see nos. 207 and 215.

3 Dulles would assure the President that the hierarchy he had suggested was indeed already in place and that the Deputy Secretary of Defense already ranked the Secretaries of the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force. "It would be possible, if you wish, to move all of the Deputy Under Secretaries of Cabinet positions ahead of the Charges d'Affaires of foreign powers, but this is not necessary in order to accomplish what you seem particularly to have in mind" (Dulles to Eisenhower, Nov. 12, 1953, AWF/D-H). The government would distribute "Revised Rules of Precedence," reflecting Dulles's suggestions and additional changes requested by the President, early in January (Muir to Stephens, Jan. 26, 1954, AWF/A: State Department--Protocol).

Bibliographic reference to this document:
Eisenhower, Dwight D. To John Foster Dulles, 9 November 1953. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 534. 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/534.cfm

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