Editorial Note
Throughout February and early March 1953, the National Security Council
continued the review of basic national security policies in relation to
their costs begun at the 131st meeting on February 11 (for a memorandum of
discussion, see page 236). Briefings were given
by the Director of the Bureau of the Budget, and letters concerning the
costs of policies were exchanged between the Director and the Secretary of
the Treasury. Documentation on these activities is in the Eisenhower Library, Eisenhower papers,
Whitman file, “NSC
Minutes”, and in S/S–NSC files, lot 63 D 351, NSC
142 Series.
At the 134th meeting of the NSC on February
25, the Council in Action No. 726–b “Agreed that each department and agency
should review the figures on its program” for the current fiscal year; and
in Action No. 726–c “Decided to establish an ad hoc
committee of civilian consultants to the National Security Council to study
and advise the Council on basic national security policies and programs in
relation to their costs”. (S/S–NSC (Miscellaneous) files, lot 66 D 95,
“Records of Action by the National Security Council, 1953”)
At the 135th meeting of the NSC on March 4,
the Council took Action No. 730 as follows:
- “a. Agreed that the initial visit to Washington of the
[Civilian] Consultants for this subject [review of national
security policies in relation to costs] should be chiefly for
briefing purposes, and they should then be asked to return at a
later date to give their reactions to the preliminary views of
the Council members when more fully developed.
- “b. Noted a statement by the Director, Bureau of the Budget,
regarding the assumptions underlying the budget outlook, and
proposing the following assumptions as a basis for considering
the security effects of approaching a balanced budget in FY 1954 and achieving a balanced
budget in FY 1955:
- “(1) That reductions in security programs other
than military and mutual security will amount to
about $.6 billion for each of the two years. This
would allow total expenditures for those programs of
$3.8 billion for 1954 and $3.6 billion for
1955.
- “(2) That expenditures for the mutual security
program can be held at the 1953 level of $5.5
billion for 1954 and be reduced to $4.0 billion for
1955. This would amount to a reduction in projected
expenditures of $1.9 billion in 1954 and $4.0
billion in 1955.
- “(3) That the remaining reduction ($4.3 billion in
1954 and $9.4 billion in 1955) would be applied to
the military program, bringing it to $41.2 billion
for 1954 and $34.6 billion in 1955.
- “c. Noted that the Department of Defense and the Office of the
Director for Mutual Security will submit to the Council by March
[Page 245]
17 statements as
to (1) the revisions in their respective programs which would be
necessary to reduce them to the levels indicated in b above, and
(2) the effects of these revisions in relation to currently
approved national security policies and objectives.” (S/S–NSC (Miscellaneous) files, lot 66 D 95, “Records of
Action by the National Security Council, 1953”)
