32. Editorial Note

At its 440th meeting on April 7, in NSC Action No. 2215-c, the National Security Council noted the statement made by the President during the meeting that he wished to leave NSC policy papers that remained in effect in current condition for the next administration. Accordingly the Council’s Planning Board should submit to the Council revisions in NSC policy papers for the purpose of bringing them up to date. However, in those cases where the policy papers required revisions only of a purely editorial nature, the Planning Board was to make a written report to that effect to the Council as a matter of official record. (Department of State, S/S-NSC (Miscellaneous) Files: Lot 66 D 95, Records of Action by the National Security Council)

Pursuant to this action, and in accordance with the OCB’s decision at its July 27 meeting (see the source note, Document 30), the NSC Planning Board on October 14 reviewed NSC 5811/1 (Document 6) and determined that only revisions of an editorial nature were necessary to bring the paper up to date. It accordingly made minor changes on certain pages to reflect changed circumstances and events that had occurred since May 24, 1958. These revised pages were transmitted to the [Page 126] Council under cover of an explanatory memorandum from NSC Acting Executive Secretary Marion W. Boggs, dated October 17, with the request that they be inserted in copies of NSC 5811/1 and the superseded pages destroyed. The revised paper bore the original date of May 24, 1958, but included in the margin at the bottom of the revised pages the following phase: “Editorially revised 10/14/60.” Boggs also requested that Annex A of NSC 5811/1 regarding military troops in Eastern Europe be deleted from the paper. A copy of Boggs’ memorandum, with the revised pages as attachments, and a copy of NSC 5811/1, with the editorial revision of October 14 included, are in Department of State, S/S-NSC Files: Lot 63 D 351, NSC 5811 Series.