Presidential Papers, Doc#1146 Personal To Harold Macmillan, 1 May 1959. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower
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Doc #1147

Document #1146; May 1, 1959
To Harold Macmillan
Series: EM, AWF, International Series: Macmillan ; Category: Personal
The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XX - The Presidency: Keeping the Peace
Part VII: Berlin and the Chance for a Summit; March 1959 to August 1959
Chapter 17: "Sources of division" among allies

 

Dear Harold: Thank you very much for your note deploring the conduct of your publicity-seeking traveler to Moscow.1 I can assure you that, so far as I am concerned, neither you and I, nor our two countries, are going to be divided and troubled by the chatterings of a very small magpie. As I remarked at a recent press conference, the British press has already taken care of his "diplomatic" mission to Moscow.2

With warm regard, As ever

1 Macmillan had written regarding statements made by Eisenhower’s wartime colleague Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery in a CBS television interview, filmed a month earlier but released in order to coincide with Montgomery's arrival in Moscow. American leadership, Montgomery had said, had been "rather suspect" in recent years and the United States was run by "people who are not very well." He had also criticized Eisenhower’s reluctance to participate in a summit meeting and said that soldiers should stay out of politics. Turning to the recent withdrawal of the French fleet from NATO (see no. 1112), Montgomery had stated: "I imagine that General de Gaulle has been having a look at the command set-up in the Mediterranean and he can’t make head or tail of it. Neither can I. It’s a complete dog’s breakfast, if you ask me."

Montgomery's words were in "bad taste," Macmillan had written, and "they could do nothing but harm in both our countries" (Macmillan to Eisenhower, Apr. 29, 1959, AWF/I: Macmillan; London Times, Apr. 29, 1959; and New York Times, Apr. 29, 1959).

2 On April 29 a reporter had asked Eisenhower about Montgomery’s comments. Avoiding any substantial remarks, the President had referred him to the critical opinions that had been expressed in the British press (see Public Papers of the Presidents: Eisenhower, 1959, pp. 349 - 50; see also London Times, Apr. 30, 1959).

Bibliographic reference to this document:
Eisenhower, Dwight D. Personal To Harold Macmillan, 1 May 1959. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 1146. 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/second-term/documents/1146.cfm

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