December 11, 1952
MEMORANDUM OF CONVERSATION WITH THE PRESIDENT
Item No. 2 STATEMENT ON COMMUNISTS IN THE UN
I went over this matter fully with the President and he approved the following steps.
1. He approved the action of Mr. Hickerson and his associates in not disclosing the names of subordinates engaged in the evaluation work. He authorizes me to take whatever steps are necessary to support Mr. Hickerson, et al., in this connection.
2. He believes that we should do our best to meet the proposal put forward by the Commission of Jurists of the United Nations and accepted by Secretary General Trygve Lie.
He directed Mr. Murphy to take this matter in hand and see that it is acted upon promptly. He told Mr. Murphy that the agencies involved in the first instance are the Department of Justice and the Department of State. In the second stage it may be necessary to bring the Civil Service Commission into it.
I had a talk with Mr. Murphy, who understands the situation, sees some of the complications involved in the effect of the proposed action on the broader loyalty program, but is prepared to work this out. He will talk with the Attorney General and Mr. Hoover and will arrange a meeting in his office between State and Justice officials I think that Messrs. Fisher, Hickerson, and Humelsine should decide who is primarily responsible for going forward with the matter, with the other two helping. It occurs to me that this should be Mr. Humelsine.
S:D.Acheson:be