Presidential Papers, Doc#877 To John Foster Dulles, Harold Edward Stassen, and Robert Cutler, 14 May 1954. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower
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Doc #878

Document #877; May 14, 1954
To John Foster Dulles, Harold Edward Stassen, and Robert Cutler
Series: EM, AWF, Name Series
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"

 

Memorandum for (in turn) the Secretary of State; The Director of the Foreign Operations Administration; General Robert Cutler. I find much of value in the attached memorandum.1 While none of it is necessarily new to students of Asia, yet I think it does summarize pretty well many of the important considerations that affect our problem of helping to defend that area.2 Moreover, since the memorandum was written in 1952, it is probably worth while to read a paper like this just to see how the situation has changed in the meantime.

While I do not by any means suggest that you take your personal time to study the document, I think it could well be read by your appropriate staff sections.

When it has served its purpose, will you please return to my office?

1 Eisenhower had enclosed a memorandum on United States Pacific policy, which retired Brigadier General Edwin Norman Clark had originally sent to him in September 1952 (see Galambos, NATO and the Campaign of 1952, no. 894). The President had asked Clark for a new copy (Clark to Eisenhower, May 5, 1954, AWF/N).

2 Clark's Pacific policy recommendations were based on eliminating the threat posed by the Stalinist version of communism and the need for the United States to take the lead in this endeavor. Of the nine countries Clark discussed, he placed particular emphasis on China and Japan. The former, he said, deserved "special treatment" because of the "impact of Chinese culture and civilization on all of Asia," and Japan required "considerable vigilance" to prevent the reinstitution of its military power (Clark to Eisenhower, Sept. 5, 1952, ibid.). For Clark's recommendations regarding U.S. policy in Europe see no. 754.

Bibliographic reference to this document:
Eisenhower, Dwight D. To John Foster Dulles, Harold Edward Stassen, and Robert Cutler, 14 May 1954. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 877. 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/877.cfm

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