The reader will notice that I have made no use of the Dulles Papers, now housed at Princeton University. Permission to examine these personal documents is granted only by a committee appointed by Dulles for the purpose, and only after the candidate signs an agreement not to “publish, quote, cite, or refer” to any of them without the written permission of the committee, to whom all such quotations, citations or references must be submitted “in the context of their intended publication.” To my surprise, I was admitted to the papers, and they are very interesting documents, indeed. In fact, they make even clearer the story told in this book—including such matters as whom Dulles knew and what he financed—and reinforce its conclusion.
Unfortunately, however, a subsequent event made it apparent that I could not publish, quote, cite or refer to them. It seems that as I was leaving the premises after finishing my inspection, which took some time, I was reminded again, by Mr Clark, Curator of Manuscripts, that it was imperative to submit all quotations” in the context of their intended publication”, and warned not to get impatient for the written approval. Indeed, Mr. Clark cited the case of a man who had submitted a manuscript 8 months before, and now, getting on to a year later, he was still waiting for permission to publish—with no assurance that it would be forthcoming. It should not be supposed that Mr. Clark has anything to do with this. He describes himself uncomfortably, and properly, as “the man in the middle.” In fact, Mr. Clark and his entire staff are cordial, competent and very helpful, as the reader will see if he applies to get in, which I recommend. “Who are the members of this committee?” I asked him. “I’m just curious.” “Actually, the members prefer that you communicate through me,” he said. “They are all very busy, and don’t want to be bothered." I assured Mr. Clark that I had no doubt they were very busy, and that I was perfectly happy to communicate through him, if that was the rule, but that I simply wanted to know their names. “Is it some sort of secret?” I asked. “Not at all,” said Mr. Clark. “They simply prefer that you don’t know who they are."
*John Foster Dulles was a Secretary of State 1953-59
