135. Editorial Note

On September 28, President Eisenhower held a press conference on the recent Khrushchev visit; see footnote 8, Document 128. Eisenhower also informed the principal U.S. allies on his talks with Khrushchev. In a letter dated September 28, Eisenhower wrote West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer; see volume IX, Document 18. Copies of similar letters which Eisenhower sent to British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, dated September 29, and to French President Charles de Gaulle, dated September 30, are in Department of State, Presidential Correspondence: Lot 66 D 204. A seven-page memorandum summarizing the Eisenhower-Khrushchev talks at Camp David was transmitted separately to Adenauer, Macmillan, and De Gaulle on September 30. A copy is ibid. Numerous memoranda of conversation between Department of State officials and foreign diplomats in Washington as well as between U.S. Ambassadors and foreign leaders at various posts abroad from September 28 to 30, in which foreign governments were briefed on the Khrushchev visit, are ibid., Central File 033.6111.

Eisenhower also wanted to follow through on the many issues discussed with Khrushchev. On September 29, he wrote a letter to Secretary of State Herter asking him to “keep on the ball with respect to all the subjects we have considered in our recent conferences,” particularly those pertaining to the Khrushchev conversations. In this regard, the President mentioned exchanges on peaceful uses of atomic energy, trade in general, broadening of other kinds of contacts, and jamming of broadcasts to the Soviet Union, and suggested using Ambassador Llewellyn E. Thompson, rather than Soviet Ambassador Menshikov, as the diplomatic channel for further discussions. (Ibid., 711.11–EI/9–2959) In his reply, dated October 1, which was initialed by Eisenhower, Herter agreed with the President’s suggestions. He noted “the particular urgency you attach to the question of VOA broadcasts and I will get to work immediately with George Allen on this.” He also wrote that he had asked Livingston T. Merchant, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, to coordinate this activity, “and we will hope to have status reports for you both as specific items come up for your approval, and at regular intervals on the totality of the subjects involved.” (Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, Dulles-Herter Series)

Regarding Herter’s subsequent discussions within the government on the issue of Voice of America broadcasts and the exchange agreement signed in Moscow on November 21 by Ambassador Thompson and Soviet Chairman for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries Zhukov, see Part 2, Document 22.

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A report on the Khrushchev visit is printed as Document 136. Minutes of the Cabinet meeting on November 6 on the implications of his visit for future U.S.-Soviet relations is printed as Document 137.