January 1–31: Peace Negotiations During the Bombing Pause; The Decision to Resume Bombing


1. Telegram From the Embassy in Vietnam to the Department of State

Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 27 VIET S. Secret; Immediate; Nodis; Pinta. The source text does not indicate the time of transmission; the telegram was received at 2:04 a.m.


2. Memorandum From the Presidentʼs Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy) to President Johnson

Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Memos to the President—McGeorge Bundy, vol. 18. Secret. The source text is marked with an indication that the President saw the memorandum.


3. Notes of Meeting

Source: Johnson Library, Meeting Notes File. No classification marking. Valenti took the notes by hand; they were typed later, apparently shortly after President Johnson left office. The editor has checked this typescript and the typescripts of all subsequent Valenti notes for accuracy against Valentiʼs handwritten notes and has made minor corrections. (Ibid., Office of the President File, “Valenti, Jack, Notes Taken at Various Meetings During 1965 and 1966”) The meeting was held in the Cabinet Room. The time of the meeting is from the Presidentʼs Daily Diary. (Ibid.)


4. Telegram From the Embassy in France to the Department of State

Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 27–14 VIET/XYZ. Top Secret; Immediate; Nodis; XYZ. Drafted by Paul Sturm (identified as “Y” in the telegram) and authenticated by Culver Gleysteen. For documentation on earlier contacts of Edmund Gullion (“X”) of the United States with Mai Van Bo (“Rupert”) of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, see Foreign Relations, 1964–1968, vol. III, pp. 312316, 319, 328332, 334337, and 367371.


5. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Vietnam

Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Vietnam, vol. XLV. Secret; Immediate; Exdis. Drafted by William Bundy, cleared by Unger and by McGeorge Bundy in substance, and approved by William Bundy.


6. Telegram From the Embassy in Vietnam to the Department of State

Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 27 VIET S. Secret; Priority; Nodis; Pinta. The source text does not indicate the time of transmission; the telegram was received at 8:20 a.m. and passed to the White House at 9:40. McGeorge Bundy forwarded it to President Johnson at 2:30 p.m. under a covering memorandum that stated: “Here is an important dispatch from Lodge. As you can see, he is still pulling hard for a quick end to the pause.” (Johnson Library, National Security File, Memos to the President—McGeorge Bundy, vol. 18)


7. Summary Notes of the 555th Meeting of the National Security Council

Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, NSC Meetings File. Top Secret; Sensitive; For the President Only. The meeting was held in the Cabinet Room.


8. Letter From the Permanent Representative to the United Nations (Goldberg) to the Ambassador to Vietnam (Lodge)

Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 27 VIET S. Secret. In a January 7 covering memorandum under which he forwarded the letter to Read for dispatch to Saigon, Sisco noted that it had been requested by the President and read and approved by Rusk and Ball. (Ibid.)


9. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Vietnam

Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 27 VIET S. Secret; Immediate; Literally Eyes Only; Nodis. Drafted by William Bundy, cleared by McGeorge Bundy and in substance by U. Alexis Johnson, and approved by Rusk. Repeated to the White House.


10. Memorandum From James Thomson and Donald Ropa of the National Security Council Staff to the Presidentʼs Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy)

Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Vietnam, vol. XLV. Secret.


11. Memorandum From Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Fortas to President Johnson

Source: Washington National Records Center, RG 330, McNamara Vietnam Files: FRC 77–0075, Vietnam, 1966. Secret. The source text is stamped: “Sec Def has seen, 8 Jan 1966.”


12. Telegram From the Embassy in Japan to the Department of State

Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 27 VIET S. Secret; Immediate; Nodis; Pinta. The source text does not indicate the time of transmission; the telegram was received at 9:18 a.m. and passed to the White House at 10. McGeorge Bundy forwarded this telegram to President Johnson at 1:30 p.m. on January 8 under cover of a memorandum stating: “Harriman fires all his arguments at us on keeping the Pause going.” (Johnson Library, National Security File, Memos to the President—McGeorge Bundy, vol. 18)


13. Memorandum From the Joint Chiefs of Staff to Secretary of Defense McNamara

Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 27 VIET S. Top Secret. McNamara forwarded the memorandum to Rusk on January 19. (Ibid.)


14. Notes of Meeting

Source: Johnson Library, Meeting Notes File. No classification marking. Valenti took the notes.


15. Notes of Meeting

Source: Johnson Library, Meeting Notes File. No classification marking. Valenti took the notes. In a memorandum written at 1 p.m. on January 11, McGeorge Bundy told President Johnson that the “main point” of the meeting with Bell was “simply to emphasize the importance of the non-military effort by having Bell report on the record to you.” (Ibid., National Security File, Memos to the President—McGeorge Bundy, vol. 18)


16. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in France

Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 27–14 VIET/XYZ. Secret; Immediate; Nodis-XYZ. Drafted by Read, Springsteen, and William Bundy and approved by Ball.


17. Telegram From the Commander in Chief, Pacific (Sharp) to the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Vietnam, vol. XLV. Top Secret; Limdis. Repeated to CINCUSARPAC, CINCPACAF, CINCPACFLT, and COMUSMACV, and passed to the State Department and White House.


18. Telegram From the Embassy in Vietnam to the Department of State

Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 27 VIET S. Secret; Nodis. The source text does not indicate the time of transmission; the telegram was received at 9:33 a.m.


19. Memorandum of Telephone Conversation Between President Johnson and the Under Secretary of State (Ball)

Source: Johnson Library, Ball Papers, Vietnam II. No classification marking.


20. Telegram From the Embasy in Vietnam to the Department of State

Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 27 VIET S. Secret; Priority; Nodis. The source text does not indicate the time of transmission; the telegram was received at 4:52 a.m. McGeorge Bundy forwarded the telegram to President Johnson at 11 a.m. on January 13 under cover of a memorandum stating that Lodge “is as optimistic as McNamara is pessimistic about the timing and likelihood of straight military success as against pacification. But I think he is right in his notion that the two should be kept separate in our minds.” (Johnson Library, National Security File, Memos to the President—McGeorge Bundy, vol. 18)


21. Report Prepared by the Deputy Ambassador to Vietnam (Porter) and the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs (Unger)

Source: Department of State, S/S-Vietnam Briefing Books: Lot 70 D 207, Vietnam, Jan 1966. Secret. Drafted by Unger. The report was addressed to Rusk, McNamara, Raborn, Bell, McGeorge Bundy, and Lodge.


22. Memorandum From the Presidentʼs Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy) to President Johnson

Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Memos to the President—McGeorge Bundy, vol. 18. Secret.


23. Memorandum of Conversation

Source: Department of State, Central Files, ORG 7 S. Secret; Exdis; Pinta. Prepared by Habib. The meeting was held at the Gia Long Palace in Saigon. A memorandum of Secretary Ruskʼs conversation with Prime Minister Ky on the same day is ibid. On January 16 Rusk and Ky issued a joint communique, which is printed in Department of State Bulletin, January 31, 1966, pp. 155–156. Ruskʼs stopover in Saigon followed his visit to New Delhi January 12–13 to attend Prime Minister Shastriʼs funeral and his meeting in Bangkok on January 14 with senior Thai officials. Rusk met with President Marcos in Manila on January 16 and returned to Washington on January 19.


25. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in the Soviet Union

Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 27 VIET S. Secret; Immediate; Nodis; Pinta. Drafted by William Bundy, cleared by Thompson, and approved by Ball. Repeated to the White House.


26. Telephone Conversation Between President Johnson and Secretary of Defense McNamara

Source: Johnson Library, Recordings and Transcripts, Recording of Telephone Conversation between Johnson and McNamara, Tape F66.02, Side A, PNOs 1 and 2. No classification marking. The transcript was prepared by the Office of the Historian specifically for this volume.


27. Memorandum From the Joint Chiefs of Staff to Secretary of Defense McNamara

Source: National Defense University, Taylor Papers, Box 54, Folder B, “Joint Staff Papers, 1965–66.” Top Secret.


28. Memorandum From the Administrator of the Agency for International Development (Bell) to President Johnson

Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Memos to the President—McGeorge Bundy, vol. 19. Secret; Limited Distribution. In his January 20 covering memorandum forwarding Bellʼs report to the President, McGeorge Bundy stated: “I think you will find it well worth reading all the way through. I agree with nearly all of it, and so does Bob McNamara.” (Ibid.) See Document 15 for Bellʼs oral report to the President on his trip.


29. Memorandum From Acting Secretary of State Ball to President Johnson

Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Memos to the President—McGeorge Bundy, vol. 19. Secret. McGeorge Bundy forwarded the memorandum to President Johnson at 7 p.m. on January 19, noting in his covering memorandum that he agreed that it was right to follow up quickly Hanoiʼs approach to Souvanna but that he thought that Ball “somewhat overstates its significance.” (Ibid.)


30. Intelligence Memorandum

Source: Department of State, Ball Files: Lot 74 D 272, Viet-Nam—Intelligence Estimates. Secret; No Foreign Dissem; Background Use Only. Prepared by the Office of Current Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency. A copy is also in the Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Vietnam, vol. XLV.