October 9, 1950
Meeting with the President
Subject: President Proposed Trip to Hawaii
The President raised with me again the proposal made last week that he should meet General MacArthur either in Hawaii or on Wake. He said that he had been thinking this over and thought favorably of it. General Marshall had given his approval. The President did not wish to do this if we had any doubts about it.
The President said that he would like to take Mr. Rusk with him and he suggested also that Ambassador Jessup should go. However, he thought that if I agreed with the trip, I should recommend to him who should go from the State Department.
He would like to review with General MacArthur the situation in Korea, the probable future developments and the length of time necessary for the maintenance of American forces there. He would also like to appraise the possibilities of possible Chinese interference in Korea, which the President thought was not likely, and also possible Chinese interference in Indochina.
I said to the President that we had been giving the matter a good deal of thought in the Department and were prepared to agree with his judgment and that of General Marshall in favor of the trip. I hoped strongly that the policy in regard to Formosa would not become unsettled because I thought this was critical in our relations with China, and that we had made a good deal of progress with other members of the United Nations by advocating a United Nations commission and UN consideration of the future of Formosa along with a UN resolution against any military action either way. The President assured me that I need not have any worries on this account.
The President proposes to leave on Friday and meet with General MacArthur either late Saturday or Sunday, after which he would return to San Francisco.
S DA:BE:ma