GAULLE Charles de. L. A. S. "Ton Papa", 18 May 1960, to his son Lieutenant-Commander Philippe de GAULLE (in Toulon); 4 pages in-8 headed Le Général de Gaulle. Important letter on the Paris Summit Conference and the incident provoked by Khrushchev. The Summit Conference, organised by France, brought together the heads of state of Germany, Great Britain, Russia and the United States. As soon as it opened on 16 May, Khrushchev attacked Eisenhower over the shooting down of the American U2 observation plane over Russian territory. "The so-called 'summit affair' took on a new aspect. [...] The Americans were wrong, in my opinion, to launch their U2 on Russia on the very eve of the meeting. (They had done it many times before). Then they were wrong to make contradictory statements on the subject. The Soviets were wrong to blow the whole thing out of proportion and use it as a war machine against Eisenhower personally. However, neither of the two rivals wanted to go to war. At some point, therefore, the conversation will have to be resumed. As far as we are concerned, the conclusion to be drawn is that we must exist on our own. In particular, we need an effective nuclear force. [...] This absence prevented me from wishing you a happy birthday on the date you wanted. But I thought of you during those days, as always"... LNC, III, p. 238.