<--PREV Doc #868  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  First Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #870 Document #869; May 11, 1954 Diary Series: EM, AWF, Administration Series: Wilson Corr. ; Category: Secret The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XV - The Presidency: The Middle Way Part V: Maintaining "a united defense"; April 1954 to August 1954 Chapter 10: Losing the war "they could not win"   Secretary Wilson called me to ask me about a report that the Mundt Investigating Committee had requested the Army to provide to the Committee the names of all military personnel who had any connection with the so-called Peress case.1 Later questioning developed that he was not certain whether Senator McCarthy had asked for this information or whether the Committee as a whole had done so. The purpose of Mr. Wilson's call was to seek my advice as to the wisdom of giving this kind of information to the Committee. It appears that Secretary Stevens had already tentatively agreed to provide the information, but that General Ridgway violently objected on the ground that to give away this kind of information and to establish a practice of subjecting officers to cross-examination and virtual persecution by Congressional Committees would practically destroy discipline in the Army.2 I disagree with this rather extreme view taken by General Ridgway and I feel that this particular case has to be handled strictly on its merits. Of these I know nothing. I have not followed the hearings either in the press or by television or radio; I have no knowledge whatsoever of the connection between the so-called Peress case and the charges that have been apparently flung back and forth between McCarthy and the Army.3 My own belief is that the Army would be well advised to provide every possible bit of information in this case where the security of the country and efficient administration will permit. They must not be in the position of appearing to "cover up." Two or three days after Secretary Stevens had the famous "secret" meeting with the Republican members of this Committee, he came to my office. On that occasion I gave him one piece of advice, which to my mind is still sound. I told him, "Admit that the handling of the Peress case was bungled in the Army. Tell the entire truth in connection with the affair and hold back no information unless the security of the country might be involved in some way. Along with these two things stand upon your rights; demand the treatment that should be accorded to an American in a responsible position, and if you are not accorded this kind of courtesy and respectful treatment, do not attend the hearings until you are guaranteed this kind of treatment."4 1 For background on the hearings by the Senate Subcommittee on Investigations (chaired by Republican Karl E. Mundt of South Dakota) see no. 794. On the case of Army dentist Major Irving Peress, who had refused to answer questions regarding Communist associations and had subsequently received an honorable discharge from the service, see no. 741. 2 Army Secretary Robert T. Stevens had agreed in February to supply McCarthy's subcommittee with the names of people involved in Major Peress's promotion (see no. 741). Following the completion of the Army Inspector General's report on the Peress matter, Stevens, on May 7, had announced that he would honor that February agreement. On Army Chief of Staff Matthew B. Ridgway's objection to Stevens's statement see Ewald, Who Killed Joe McCarthy?, p. 345; and New York Times, May 8, 1954. 3 On Eisenhower's refusal to discuss the controversy publicly see, for example, Public Papers of the Presidents: Eisenhower, 1954, p. 438. 4 On the "secret" meeting (also known as the "fried chicken lunch"), see Ewald, Who Killed Joe McCarthy?, pp. 208-12, 345-46; and Ferrell, ed., Diary of James C. Hagerty, pp. 19-21. On this same day (May 11) Eisenhower would send Wilson a copy of the statement he had read at his news conference of March 3 in which he said, "Except where the interests of the nation demand otherwise, every governmental employee in the Executive Branch, whether civilian or in the armed forces, is expected to respond cheerfully and completely to the requests of the Congress and its several committees. In doing so it is, of course, assumed that they will be accorded the same respect and courtesy that I require that they show to the members of the legislative body. Officials in the Executive Branch of the government will have my unqualified support in insisting that employees in the Executive Branch who appear before any type of Executive or Congressional investigative body be treated fairly" (memorandum, Eisenhower to Wilson, AWF/A: Wilson Corr.; Public Papers of the Presidents: Eisenhower, 1954, pp. 290-91). For developments see nos. 874, 879, and 883. Bibliographic reference to this document: Eisenhower, Dwight D. Secret Diary, 11 May 1954. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 869. 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/869.cfm <--PREV Doc #868  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  First Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #870

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