296. Editorial Note
British Prime Minister Macmillan wrote to President Eisenhower about nuclear disarmament around September 21. Part of Macmillan’s letter repeated a proposal he had presented in a September 18 memorandum, which British Foreign Secretary Lloyd had discussed with Secretary Dulles in Washington. Macmillan later recorded that he “was anxious that we should not appear before the United Nations without some definite and ‘constructive’ plan.” He therefore: [Page 722]
“proposed that we should make a gesture, which would be both practicable and imaginative:
“‘First, we would undertake to declare [all tests] … beforehand and register them with the United Nations, or some other body. Second, we would undertake to limit our explosions during the next two years unilaterally, whether the Russians agreed or not. Third, that the limit of our explosions would be such as would create an amount of radiation, etc., which would not exceed a specified figure.’” (Macmillan, Riding the Storm, 1956–1959, pages 313–314. Ellipses and brackets in the source text.)
Macmillan’s letter and a note from Ambassador Caccia, dated September 21 and saying he had been asked to deliver the message to the President, are in Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, International File.