Office of the Historian

396. Memorandum From Kenneth P. Landon of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Deputy Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Rostow)0

Washington, February 16, 1961.

SUBJECT

  • President’s Letter to Marshal Sarit of Thailand

The working levels of State, Defense, ICA are struggling with a draft letter from the President to Marshal Sarit which Mr. Rusk requested be prepared as a result of discussions in the White House. The problem is to provide substance in such a letter because Marshal Sarit is an earthy person who looks for hard evidence of friendship in support of verbal affirmations.

The present draft, if it survives the working levels, should satisfy Marshal Sarit because it includes: (1) three DLF projects amounting to a total of $21.5 million, repayable in dollars, for irrigation projects in connection with economic development; (2) helicopters or, alternatively, small planes capable of using short landing strips which are particularly requested by Marshal Sarit; (3) defense support to erect some needed military installations; and (4) an increase in MAP to support up to about 80% of Thai armed strength, Thailand still having some non-MAP supported forces.

The last time a letter of this sort was developed, with less substance than this one, about three months elapsed before the concerned agencies could agree on the package.1 The present tactic at the working level in State is to attempt to secure Secretary Rusk’s approval in principle to help expedite clearance of the package without serious deletions. If you wish, I will follow the progress of this letter and keep you informed of developments.

  1. Source: Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, Thailand, Vol. I, 1/61–6/61. Secret.↩
  2. Reference is to a letter from President Eisenhower to Sarit, November 8, 1960; see Foreign Relations, 1958–1960, vol. XV, pp. 1153–1154.↩