As usual, seems clear Dulles was more interested in escalating the conflict (in this case, to nuclear) than Eisenhower.
On September 2, Dulles met with members of the Joint Chiefs and other top officials to formulate the basic American position in the crisis and to define American policy in the event cf a Chinese Communist invasion of the Offshore Islands. At this meeting there was consider¬ able debate on the question of to what extent Quemoy could be defended without nuclear weapons and on the more general question of the wisdom of relying on nuclear weapons for deterrence. The consensus reached was that the use of nuclear weapons wo uld ultimately be necessary for the defense of Quemoy, but that the United States should limit itself i nitial ly to using conventional forces
As usual, seems clear Dulles was more interested in escalating the conflict (in this case, to nuclear) than Eisenhower.