Today in Canada’s Political History: Dief meets with President Ike at White House

Prime Minister John Diefenbaker and U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower held lengthy talks at the White House on this date in 1960. Foreign and defence matters took up the majority of the discussions. Of course, Dief being Dief, he also complained about the lack of interest in Canada demonstrated by the American media.

“The President then remarked that he was most anxious that on both sides we should seek to avoid news stories designed to upset the other and to maintain so close a relationship that speculative stories based on misinformation did not in fact give rise to concern,” an American report on the talks stated. “The Prime Minister (then) discoursed at some length on the extent to which the Canadian air and press are filled with news of America whereas for weeks on end there will not be, in Time Magazine, for example, even one line on Canada.”

You can read a full report on the private discussions between the PM and the President at the link below.

https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v07p1/d320

Arthur Milnes is an accomplished public historian and award-winning journalist. He was research assistant on The Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney’s best-selling Memoirs and also served as a speechwriter to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and as a Fellow of the Queen’s Centre for the Study of Democracy under the leadership of Tom Axworthy. A resident of Kingston, Ontario, Milnes serves as the in-house historian at the 175 year-old Frontenac Club Hotel.