DIPLOMACY ON THE WING

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000800110007-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 10, 1998
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: July 15, 1956
• Content Type: NSPR

PORI ''dc'~Y .J,ind.) till r Ifl
itized -,Approved For Release : CIA-RDP75-0014
1,802 FOIAb3b .
I r-
`.i hen Dr, Henry, Vl. Wriston,, president
r;r~ 'tuc cf +?i,t?xif., niversity, spoke out
irar . ..+ ; ,+ +rj~ c?ords against the,hab t
Secretary of State John 'Foster Dulles
of rushing around the world trying to con-
duct diplomacy in person and leaving the
State Department to tend for itself, it was
no, ordinary attack..
.,Dr. Wriston. has been a valued adviser
to Secretary Dulles. He has done as much
as anyone to help Dulles reorganize the
U. S. foreign service.
He has a long and distinguished career
behind him in education and public af-
fairs. The article entitled The Secretary
of State Abroad" appeared in the well-
known American quarterly review "For-
eign Affairs" of ` which .Allen W. Dulles,
head of the Central Iwtalligsnee Agency
and brother to Secretary Dulles, is a mein-
ber of the, editorial advisory board.
Dr. 'Wriston takes cognizance, of the fact
that American Secretaries of State have
been traveling more in recent years since
the United States became the greatest of
the world powers and since-the use of the
fast, airplane.
But he thinks the very. frequent absence'
of the Secretary of State from his office
Is a serious handicap to the formulation
and conduct of foreign policy. ,
a With, that position, we have long
recd.
Mr. Dulles.is so frequently on the wing
that he does not have time to do much
b4sic. and balanced planning of foreign
po icy.
1 e is usually thinking in terms of some
spec\fic visit he is. going to make and no-
-body' eems'to have given thorough atten-
tion t ' general, world-wide policy.
Perhaps this is why Mr. Dulles so often
ehange) his position In his public state-
ments o ,policy.
When ullesis gone, there is nobody
of top ran to brief the President on for-
eign polic jnd nobody in the State De-
partment to make top decisions.
As ,the result the Department frequen
ly has appeared ridiculous by its inability
to make a necessary decision or by doft-
quick reversals from one position to an-
other:
Dr. Wriston, in his article in "F'oreign
Affairs",' says:
"Aftir his status as adviser to the Pre-
sident, 'the second principal function
the Secretary is to keep under continuous
over-all review every phase of our world-
vvide responsibilities and opportunities. In
the present state. of world affairs .this a-
lone is a back-breaking task. Over concen-
tration upon one area seriously impairs
the balance . . . So swift is the movement
of events that'even brief absences can ser-
iously dislocate policy formation."
The. author of the article declares at one
pR(nt that so far as competent diplomacy
is concerned, ''The airplane has become
more than a convenience; it is a tempts=
tion."
To all of thisr Secretary Dulles replies
that "today Ave all have to .travel," `an'
that Xhrushchev and Bulganin have trav-
eled more than he has in' the, past six
months. He says it is old-fashioned to sit
at, home and that he can accomplish' so
much more with a personal talk
There are a lot of people who do not
believe Secretary pullcs is accomplishing
very much in anv~way.
Whether the very. 'pointed remarks of
Dr. Wriston will tend to cause Mr. Dulles
to be more sparing with the"use of his
i'magic carpet" we cannot tell. CertaitilX
the former has been tioser than most peo-
ple to the situation which he discusses. I*e
may be able to see with more perspective
than the flying Secretary. .
Most Americans will agree with Dr.
Wr+ston when 1w ,a%-s: "The vital requisi--
ec for the effective discharge of thedutiep
of Secretary of State are perspective any
wisdom. Those qualities find their' mo.
effec-.v.e employment when there is
least i modicum of leisure for quiet'r
flect.on."
CPYRGHT
Sanitized - Approved For Release : CIA-RDP75-00149R000800110007-8