211. Editorial Note
While the meeting at the President’s villa (see Documents 208 and 209) was taking place, Hagerty held a press conference at the Maison de Presse. A verbatim record of the press conference is in Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 63 D 123, CF 505. Following the meeting at the President’s villa, President Eisenhower had dinner at 8 p.m. with General Gruenther and Admiral Radford to discuss the next day’s meetings. No record of their conversation has been found, but it appears as an entry in President Eisenhower’s appointments for July 20 (Eisenhower Library, Whitman File) and is mentioned in John D. Eisenhower’s diary.
Meanwhile, Secretary Dulles attended a meeting on Germany at the Hotel du Rhone with MacArthur, Merchant, Phleger, and Bowie at 9:30 p.m. No record of this meeting has been found in Department of State files, but Merchant recalled that it went on until after midnight. (Recollections, page 38) Secretary Dulles left the meeting well before midnight, however, to hold a press conference of his own at 10:30 p.m. A transcript of the conference was transmitted to Washington in Secto 55, July 21. (Department of State, Central Files, 396.1–GE/7–2155)