<--PREV Doc #595  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  Second Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #597 Document #596; March 7, 1958 To William Alvin Moncrief Series: EM, WHCF, Official File 149-B-2 Oil ; Category: Personal The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XIX - The Presidency: Keeping the Peace Part IV: Recession and Reform; February 1958 to May 1958 Chapter 8: "To engender confidence"   Dear Monty:1 Many thanks for your letter of the fifth. I was interested of course in your presentation of some of the problems of independent oil producers, as you see them.2 In your note you refer to what you call a "decision" of mine to implement mandatory controls. As of yet, no decision has been made. At the meeting I remarked that it appeared that such action could be necessary. But I decided nothing.3 I must of course await the final and detailed recommendations of my special committee on crude oil imports, which was also mentioned at the meeting.4 With warm regard, Sincerely 1 For background on independent oil producer Moncrief see Galambos and van Ee, The Middle Way, nos. 1113 and 1755. 2 Moncrief had written on March 5, 1958 (AWF/N), following an off-the-record meeting held two days earlier at the White House. At Moncrief's suggestion, Eisenhower had met with White House aides Sherman Adams and Gerald Morgan, Treasury Secretary Anderson, Commerce Secretary Weeks, Director of the Office of Defense Mobilization Gordon Gray, and various Texas oilmen to discuss "the crisis in oil brought about by excessive and uncontrolled foreign imports" (see Moncrief to Eisenhower, Feb. 22, 1958, same file as document, and Ann Whitman memorandum, Mar. 3, 1958, AWF/AWD; for background see no. 261). An identical letter was sent to Jake L. Hamon, an oil producer from Dallas, Texas, who had also attended the March 3 meeting (AWF/D). 3 Moncrief had praised the President's decision to "take the necessary steps to implement mandatory controls." "It was apparent to us that you are fully aware of the threat to our security," he said, "as well as the serious impact on our economy, if the domestic oil industry is laid prostrate by a continuing and uncontrolled influx of foreign crude." 4 Eisenhower would discuss the oil import problem at the March 7 Cabinet meeting (see Cabinet meeting minutes, Mar. 7, 1958, AWF/Cabinet). Secretary Weeks reported that the oil import situation had become more complicated because of decreased demand, the advent of new importers and certain instances of non-compliance with voluntary controls. He also noted that the Special Committee to Investigate Crude Oil Imports had not yet decided whether mandatory or voluntary controls should be imposed. Eisenhower noted that "certain producers seemed to have anticipated his decision" and asked either Secretary Anderson or Weeks to "set them straight as to the status of the matter." See Chester, United States Oil Policy and Diplomacy, pp. 30 - 34. For developments see no. 608; see also Moncrief to Eisenhower, March 28, 1958, same file as document. Bibliographic reference to this document: Eisenhower, Dwight D. Personal To William Alvin Moncrief, 7 March 1958. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 596. 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/596.cfm <--PREV Doc #595  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  Second Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #597

Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission 1629 K Street, NW Suite 801 Washington DC 20006 Phone: 202.296.0004    Fax: 202.296.6464