National Security Policy
61. Memorandum From the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Wheeler) to Secretary of Defense McNamara
Source: Washington National Records Center, OSD Files: FRC 330 69 A 7425, 381 Strategic Retaliatory Forces (9 Jan 64) Sep-Nov 1964. Top Secret.
62. Letter From Secretary of State Rusk to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Wheeler)
Source: Washington National Records Center, OASD/ISA Files: FRC 330 68 A 4023, 381 1964 Nov-Dec. Top Secret. A copy was sent to Secretary McNamara.
63. Letter From Secretary of State Rusk to Secretary of Defense McNamara
Source: Washington National Records Center, OSD Files: FRC 330 69 A 7425, 110.01 FY-66 1964. Top Secret. The letter is stamped: “Sec Def has seen 12 Dec 1964.” Another copy indicates that it was drafted by Seymour Weiss (G/PM). (Johnson Library, National Security File, Agency File, Defense Budget—FY 1966, Box 16) Attached to that copy is a December 8 transmittal memorandum from Llewellyn E. Thompson to McGeorge Bundy, which noted that although Secretary Rusk wanted to attend the budget meeting between Secretary McNamara and the President, he would be in New York attending sessions of the UN General Assembly. The budget meeting took place on December 11 (see Document 66).
64. Letter From the Director of the White House Office of Emergency Planning (McDermott) to Secretary of State Rusk
Source: National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, Central Files 1964–66, DEF 1 US. Confidential.
65. Memorandum From Secretary of Defense McNamara to President Johnson
Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Agency File, Defense Budget—FY 1966, Box 16. Secret. Another copy of the memorandum is dated December 10. (National Archives and Records Administration, RG 200, Defense Programs and Operations, Final Memos re Budget, Dec. 1964, Box 40)
66. Memorandum From the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy) and Spurgeon Keeny of the National Security Council Staff to President Johnson
Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Agency File, Defense Budget—FY 1966, Box 16. Top Secret.
67. Paper Prepared in the Department of Defense
Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Agency File, Defense Budget—FY 1966, Box 16. Top Secret. A December 14 covering memorandum from Cyrus Vance to President Johnson notes that the attached paper was prepared in response to President Johnson’s request of December 11. The President’s request has not been further identified.
68. Memorandum From Director of Central Intelligence McCone to the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy)
[Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Agency File, Central Intelligence Agency, Vol. 11, Box 9. Secret. 2 pages of source text not declassified.]
69. National Intelligence Estimate
Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, National Intelligence Estimates 11–64, USSR, Box 3. Top Secret; Controlled Dissem. A cover sheet, prefatory note, title page, and table of contents are not printed. According to the prefatory note, the CIA and the intelligence organizations of the Departments of State and Defense, the Atomic Energy Commission, and the National Security Agency participated in the preparation of this estimate. Representatives of the State Department, DIA, AEC, and NSA concurred; the FBI representative abstained, the subject being outside his jurisdiction.
70. Letter From the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Politico-Military Affairs (Kitchen) to the Director of the White House Office of Emergency Planning (McDermott)
Source: National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, Central Files 1964–66, DEF 1 US. Confidential. Drafted by Joseph F. Vaughan on December 15 and cleared by Brown (A).
71. Memorandum for the Record
Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Agency File, JCS, Filed by the LBJ Library, Box 29. Top Secret; Sensitive. Drafted by Clifton. A more detailed memorandum for the record (23 pages) of the same meeting, prepared by Colonel R.C. Forbes on January 25, 1965, is ibid.
72. Draft Memorandum From Secretary of Defense McNamara to President Johnson
Source: National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, Central Files 1964–66, DEF 1–1. Top Secret. Attached is a December 23 covering memorandum from McNamara to the Secretary of State, Chairman of the AEC, Chairman of the JCS, Director of Central Intelligence, Chairman of the Interdepartmental Intelligence Conference, and Chairman of the Interdepartmental Committee on Internal Security, asking for comments on his proposal to discontinue the Net Evaluation Subcommittee of the National Security Council. The draft memorandum and its attachments form Attachment B to a January 25, 1965, memorandum from Llewellyn Thompson to Secretary Rusk. See footnote 1, Document 74, and footnote 4 below.
73. Memorandum for the Record by Director of Central Intelligence McCone
Source: Central Intelligence Agency, DCI (McCone) Files, Memo for the Record, 1/l/65–12/28/65, Box 2. Secret; Eyes Only. Drafted on January 4, 1965. A typewritten note at the end of the memorandum indicates that it was dictated but not read by McCone. A handwritten notation at the end reads: “all backup & briefing papers destroyed.”
74. Memorandum From Acting Secretary of State Ball to Secretary of Defense McNamara
Source: National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, Central Files 1964–66, DEF 1. Top Secret. The memorandum forms Attachment A to a January 25 memorandum from Llewllyn Thompson to Rusk, which summarizes the rationale for the reply to McNamara. Also part of this package is Attachment B (Document 72); an earlier, undated draft of the memorandum printed here; and a January 27 note from Read to Rusk explaining that he had received calls from McNamara’s office urging action on McNamara’s proposal to abolish the Net Evaluation Subcommittee and noting that all other agencies had concurred in the proposal.
75. Memorandum From the Joint Chiefs of Staff to Secretary of Defense McNamara
Source: Washington National Records Center, OSD Files: FRC 330 70 A 1265, 381 NESC 1965. Top Secret; Sensitive. The memorandum is stamped: “Mr. Vance has seen.”
76. Memorandum From the Joint Chiefs of Staff to Secretary of Defense McNamara
Source: Washington National Records Center, OSD Files: FRC 330 70 A 1266, 385 Methods and Manner of Conducting War 1965. Secret.
77. Memorandum From the Joint Chiefs of Staff to Secretary of Defense McNamara
Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Agency File, JCS, Filed by the LBJ Library, Box 29. Top Secret.
78. Memorandum From the Joint Chiefs of Staff to Secretary of Defense McNamara
Source: National Archives and Records Administration, RG 218, JCS Files, 3130 (1 Feb 65). Top Secret; Restricted Data.
79. Memorandum by the Counselor of the Department of State and Chairman of the Policy Planning Council (Rostow)
Source: National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, S/S–NSC Files: Lot 70 D 265, (General) National Policy Papers. Secret. According to a distribution list at the end of the memorandum, it was sent to Secretary Rusk, Under Secretary Ball, 19 senior Department of State officers, AID Administrator David E. Bell, and Jacob D. Beam, Assist-ant Director of the International Relations Bureau of ACDA.
80. Paper Prepared by the Counselor of the Department of State and Chairman of the Policy Planning Council (Rostow)
Source: National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, S/S–NSC Files: Lot 70 D 265, (General) National Policy Papers. Secret. Regarding the distribution and discussion of this paper, see Document 79. Rostow sent an earlier, February 15, draft of his paper to Secretary McNamara under cover of an undated, handwritten note, which asked for McNamara’s “personal observations.” “I don’t do general papers often,” Rostow wrote, “but I am convinced we need some such map of our problem now.” (Washington National Records Center, OSD Files: FRC 330 70 A 1266, 381 National Defense 1965) In a March 27 letter to Rostow, McNamara replied that John McNaughton had told him that the Defense representatives at a planners’ meeting on February 25 “indicated that your thesis was well worth exploring.” McNamara added that he shared Rostow’s concern that his approach “may be of somewhat limited value in the short run in Southeast Asia and other critical areas,” but that he had directed McNaughton and his staff to assist him on this project. (Ibid.)
81. Memorandum From the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy) to President Johnson
Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Agency File, Department of Defense, Vol. II, 12/64, Box 12. Top Secret.
82. Memorandum From the Executive Secretary of the National Security Council (Smith) to All Holders of NSC 5816
Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Agency File, National Security Council, Vol. I, Box 34. Top Secret; Special Limited Distribution. Regarding NSC 5816, see Document 72 and footnote 2 thereto.
83. Letter From the Director of the White House Office of Emergency Planning (Ellington) to Secretary of Defense McNamara
Source: Washington National Records Center, OSD Files: FRC 330 70 A 1266, 384 Civil Defense Jan-June 1965. Secret.
84. National Intelligence Estimate
Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, National Intelligence Estimates 11–65, USSR, Box 3. Secret; Controlled Dissem. A cover sheet, prefatory note, title page, and table of contents are not printed. According to the prefatory note, the CIA and the intelligence organizations of the Departments of State and Defense, the Atomic Energy Commission, and the National Security Agency participated in the preparation of this estimate. Representatives of the State Department, DIA, AEC, and NSA concurred; the FBI representative abstained, the subject being outside his jurisdiction.
85. Memorandum From the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy) to Secretary of State Rusk and Secretary of Defense McNamara
Source: Washington National Records Center, OSD Files: FRC 330 70 A 1266, 385 Methods and Manner of Conducting War 1965. No classification marking. The date is handwritten, and “Sec Def has seen 17 May 1965” is stamped on the memorandum. An April 27 note in an unidentified hand on another copy indicates that the original was handcarried from the White House on or about April 22 and given to Secretary McNamara and that this copy was given to Vance. (Ibid.)
86. Study Prepared in the Department of Defense
Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Agency File, Department of Defense, Command and Control Support to the President, Box 20. Top Secret. The Introduction to the study indicates that it was prepared in response to a February 27, 1964, memorandum by Deputy Secretary of Defense Vance, which is included at the end of the study as Annex A. The Introduction also identifies Rear Admiral Paul P. Blackburn, Jr., Chief of the Joint Command and Control Requirements Group, Organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as chairman of the study; the other Defense members who prepared it; members of an advisory group and working group; and consultants (pp. i-iii).
87. Memorandum From the President’s Military Aide (Clifton) to the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy)
Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Agency File, Department of Defense, Command and Control Support to the President, Box 20. Top Secret.
88. Memorandum to Holders of National Intelligence Estimate 11–8–64
Source: National Archives and Records Administration, RG 263. Top Secret. A cover sheet and prefatory note are not printed. According to the prefatory note, the CIA and the intelligence organizations of the Departments of State and Defense, the Atomic Energy Commission, and the National Security Agency participated in the preparation of this estimate. Representatives of the State Department, DIA, AEC, and NSA concurred; the FBI representative abstained, the subject being outside his jurisdiction. NIE 11–8–64 is Document 55.
89. Memorandum From R.C. Bowman of the National Security Council Staff to the Executive Secretary of the National Security Council (Smith)
Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Agency File, JCS, Filed by the LBJ Library, Box 29. Top Secret.
90. National Security Action Memorandum No. 334
Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, National Security Action Memoranda, NSAM 334, Box 7. Top Secret; Restricted Data.