A Guide to the Microfilm Edition of TheDWIGH DiariesT D of. EISENHOWER 1953-1961 University Publications of America RESEARCH COLLECTIONS IN AMERICAN POLITICS Microforms from Major Archival and Manuscripts Collections William Leuchtenburg General Editor THE DIARIES OF DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER, 1953-1961 Microfilmed from the holdings of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Library Project Coordinator Robert Lester Guide compiled by Douglas D. Newman Introduction by Louis Galambos and Daun van Ee A microfilm project of UNIVERSITY PUBLICATIONS OF AMERICA, INC. 44 North Market Street • Frederick, Maryland 21701 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David) 1890-1969. The diaries of Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1953-1969 [microform]. (Research collections in American politics) "Microfilmed from the holdings of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Library." Accompanied by a printed reel guide, compiled by Douglas D. Newman. Includes index. I.Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890- - 1969--Diaries. 2. Presidents-United States-- Diaries. 3. United States-Politics and government- 1953-1961. I. Lester Robert. II. Newman, Douglas D., 1960- . III. Series. [E836] 973.921'09Z4 87-10498 ISBN 0-89093-889-X (microfilm) Copyright © 1986 by John S. D. Eisenhower. All rights reserved. ISBN 0-89093-889-X. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction v Note on Sources ix Scope and Content Note ix Acronyms xi Reel Index 1 Subject Index 53 INTRODUCTION What did the President know, and when did he know it? The answers to these questions have been of interest not only to those concerned with Richard Nixon's culpability during Watergate and Ronald Reagan's role in the Iran-Contra scandal, but also to every student of the modern presidency. The Dwight D. Eisenhower Diaries series of Eisenhower's presidential papers (the "Ann Whitman File") is the most complete record available of any President's actions, and this microfilm edition presents the currently available material in the Diaries series. The 28,000 pages of letters, memoranda, reports, and diary entries enable researchers to trace in detail President Eisenhower's role in the decision-making process and to understand the information and advice that was available to him when he acted. While The Diaries of Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1953-1961 is not the complete record of the Eisenhower administration, it focuses so sharply on Eisenhower himself that historians and political scientists can for the first time properly assess Ike's performance as leader of his political party, the nation, and the Free World. The Eisenhower Diaries file was created and maintained by Ann C. Whitman, Eisenhower's personal secretary and the principal record keeper for the Oval Office. The Diaries were part of Eisenhower's personal papers, which were kept separately from the White House Official Files maintained by the permanent White House staff. The entire Ann Whitman File, now located in the Eisenhower Presidential Library in Abilene, Kansas, contains approximately a quarter of a million pages of documents and records. The Eisenhower Diaries series, which accounts for about 11 percent of that total, is basically a distillation of all of Eisenhower's records. Retrieving information was made easier by the peculiar arrangement of the files-unlike the other major Whitman File series, and the White House Central Files, the Eisenhower Diary series was arranged chronologically rather than by name or subject. Thus, the Eisenhower Diaries file serves as a running, day-by-day account of Eisenhower's actions from 1953 until 1961. It was apparently designed to serve as the basis for historical accounts both during and after Eisenhower's presidency, and in fact it provided the framework for Eisenhower's two volumes of memoirs (Mandate for Change and Waging Peace). Since that time the Eisenhower Diaries series has become a rich source for historians, biographers, and political scientists who are determined to reassess the man and his era. Taken as a whole, their work has resulted in a major rehabilitation of Eisenhower's reputation. The Eisenhower Diaries series contains a number of different kinds of records arranged chronologically by month and by year. The nature of the records kept changing over the course of the Eisenhower administration, and the titles of the file folders for each month varied considerably over the eight-year span. There is only one folder, however, that is arranged by subject: the Bricker Amendment folder, which is filed with material from March-April 1954, contains memoranda and communications dating from April 1953 to February 1957. The documents in this file overlap those arranged chronologically throughout the rest of the collection. Within the Eisenhower Diaries is a subsection containing documents with which Eisenhower was personally involved as drafter or dictator. These folders were given various titles: "DDE Diary"; "DDE Personal Diary"; or "DDE Dictation." Other folders containing these categories of material are labeled, "Diary-Copies of DDE Personal." Within these variously titled folders are diary entries that Eisenhower dictated to Ann Whitman on an occasional basis throughout his presidency. Although Eisenhower revealed little of his innermost self in these entries, he did use his diary to express his views on the public events and personalities of his day. In this he was following the practice he had established as Supreme Allied Commander during World War II, when he dictated journal entries in order to clarify his own thinking and to flesh out the historical record. The World War II diaries proved essential when he wrote his wartime memoir Crusade in Europe; doubtless he wished to have a similar personal record to rely upon when it came time to write the history of his presidency. The Diary/Dictation folders contain letters as well as journal entries. These letters, which Eisenhower personally dictated, are to friends, family members, public figures, and members of his administration. Letters written to Eisenhower are, as a rule, missing; often such incoming documents may be located in such other series of the Whitman File as the Administration series, the Dulles-Herter series, and the Name series. Even without incoming letters, however, Eisenhower's corre- spondence shows him at his best: a writer of clear, concise prose who could put a personal touch into a formal directive or acknowledgement. As John Kenneth Galbraith has noted, his letters were "firmly and unpretentiously literate," and their publication here, for the first time, will do much to erase the lingering misconception of Ike as a fuzzy, fumbling incompetent. One section of the Eisenhower Diaries that should not be overlooked is the "Diary-Copies of DDE Personal" file. This file contains a number of items from the first Eisenhower administration that are not available elsewhere. Among these items are hitherto unpublished Top Secret diary entries con- cerning the important Bermuda Conference of December 1953. Also of interest are some drafts of other diary entries, with extensive emendations that Eisenhower added by hand, and some hand- written diary entries. Another particularly valuable subseries in the Eisenhower Diaries contains records of Eisenhower's telephone conversations. The President's phone calls were monitored by Ann Whitman, who took notes and subsequently made records of what she heard. These are not complete transcripts, but the sense of the conversation is given, often at some length. The notes are particularly rewarding because they are informal and immediate, showing Eisenhower receiving information and opinions, speculating out loud on possible courses of action, and directing that certain things be done before any paperwork was generated. Here, too, are Eisenhower's candid assessments of Washington personalities and glimpses of behind-the-scenes maneuvers that never made it into the newspapers. In one March 1954 conversation, for example, Eisenhower told Secretary of the Treasury George Humphrey to get Texas oilman Sid Richardson to press Senate Democratic leader Lyndon Johnson to support administration measures. Eisenhower pointed out that Richardson "was really the angel" who had supported Johnson financially, and that Richardson could get Johnson "into [the] right channel" by threatening to support a political rival in a future contest for Johnson's Senate seat. There are also many conversations concerning foreign policy and national security affairs. Eisenhower's leadership style was characterized by his skillful use of meetings and conferences to elicit the views of his subordinates and peers, and to engender a consensus once the decision had been made. Historians are fortunate that Andrew J. Goodpaster (and his colleague, John S.D. Eisenhower) carefully and thoughtfully recorded the proceedings in a large number of these very important meetings. These records, often termed "Memcons," are found in files with titles of "Goodpaster"; "Staff Notes"; "Memo on Appointments"; "Diary Staff Memos"; and "Miscellaneous." There are a few Memcons found in other files as well, including the DDE Diary folders. The richness of these records is evident at first glance. A typical "Memorandum of Conference with the President," dated January 13, 1956, recorded a meeting of Eisenhower, the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, and the secretaries of State, Defense, and the Treasury. They discuss the allocation of uranium for the purpose of developing civilian power plants--a variation on Eisenhower's "Atoms for Peace" theme.