Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-05-10

Aboard 1t, the President OF
of State, the chairman of the
presidential assistants and three
writing, polishing and tipping a
major announcement to the
world.
The plane was the Presidents
Columbine, and the speech
producing activity inside the
cabin was so frenetic that when
Secretary Dulles dropped into
one of the compartments anx-
iously to see how the secretaries
were making out, Anne C. Whit
man, the Presidents personal
secretary, shooed him right out.
You can't sit here" she said,
Were busy"
In Moscow, the Kremlin was
waiting to hear the speech,
which was to be made by Presi-
dent Eisenhower within a few
hours before the United Nations
General Assembly in New York.
The Kremlin did not know what
it was to be about, nor did Amer
lean Ambassador Bohlen in Mos
COW. But Mr.. Bohlen had orders
to alert Foreign Minister Molo-
tov that what the President said
was to be taken seriously, not
regarded merely as propaganda.
Discussed With Churchill
The last touches were put on
the speech just as the Columbine
reached La Guardia Airport in
New York. 1t was the Presi-
dents "Atoms for Peace" pro-
posal.
The idea was born in the
Presidents mind months before
out of great travail Of thought.
A few days before, at the Big
Three meeting in Bermuda, Mr..
Eisenhower had discussed the
proposal with British Prime
Minister Churchill and French
Premier Laniel, although the
subject was not strictly any part
of the agenda of their Bermuda
meeting.
Sir Winston, after reading the
speech, complimented the Pres
ident on it. He thought 1t would
strike a resounding note of en-
couragement in the world.
The only influence Sir Winston
had on the speech was to per-
suade the President to delete two
references carried over from ear
lier drafts. One referred to the
ancient colonial mold" in South
east Asia. The other reference
was to the readiness of the West
ern powers to retaliate with
atomic weapons, a statement
which Sir Winston felt was too
belligerent for this type Of
speech.
Red H-Bomb Poses Problem
In the fall of 1858, Mr.. Essen
hover had begun to live with the
realization that the Soviet Union
had at last produced a hydrogen
bomb. On October 8 of that year,
he told the public that an ex-
plosion detected In Russia early
in the previous August involved
at least in part a thermometer
reaction. "popularly known as
the H-bomb," and that I'VE,
therefore, conclude that the So
VETS have the capability of
atomic attack on us. and such
capability will increase with the
passage of time"
Even earlier, in the spring of
1858. he had discussed many
times with Lewis L. Strauss, the
chairman of the Acc, his worry
over the international situation
In the light of the atomic weap-
ons race. That same spring, a
Truman appointed advisory
group headed by DR.. j. Robert
Oppenheimer, the atomic scien-
fist. submitted to him a top
secret report on the destructive
potentialities of these weapons.
This had concluded that, since
the Baruch inspection plan had
failed in the U. N. in 1916, a
renewed search must be made
for a way to avert the catas-
trophe of modern war and that
essential to it was wider public
discussion based upon greater
awareneSs Of the meaning Of a
nuclear holocaust.
An Operation Candor" was
set up to work out candid
speech by the President, but
nobody liked the many drafts
that were turned out. Mr.. Eisen-
hover particularly deplored
them because of their preoccu-
patton with the single. gruesome
theme of human destruction.
Passes Idea to Cutler
The President did not wish to
be put In a position merely Of
horrifying the American people