Foreign Relations of the United States, 1917–1972, Volume VI, Public Diplomacy, 1961–1963

94. Memorandum From the Director of the United States Information Agency (Murrow) to the Executive Secretary of the National Security Council (Smith)¹

Washington, September 26, 1962.

REFERENCE

• Your Memorandum of August 9, 1962²

We appreciate the opportunity to re-do the statement of the mission of the U.S. Information Agency. Our proposed restatement, a substitute for NSC 165/1–10/24/53,³ is attached.⁴

I agree it would be desirable if the President issued it, rather than making it a National Security Council document.

We do not think it necessary for part of the statement to be unclassified, as was the case in 1953. We no longer need a statement to hang on the wall; rather we desire a realistic, meaningful definition of the Agency’s mission for internal use within the Government.

Edward R. Murrow

1. Source: Kennedy Library, President’s Office Files, Departments and Agencies Series, Box 91, USIA 1/63–2/63. Top Secret. A stamped notation indicates that it was received at the White House at 9:42 a.m. Another copy is ibid., National Security Files, Departments and Agencies Series, Box 290, United States Information Agency, General, 1962–Inclusive. Also printed in Foreign Relations, 1961–1963, vol. XXV, Organization of Foreign Policy; Information Policy; United Nations; Scientific Matters, Document 140.
2. In his August 9 memorandum, Smith commented that it might be possible for USIA to “re-do” the existing 1953 NSC directive “in the light of the Agency’s current mission. In the event that you do decide that a revised statement should be issued, you may wish to have President Kennedy approve it prior to issuance, rather than making it a National Security Council document.” (Kennedy Library, President’s Office Files, Departments and Agencies Series, Box 91, USIA 1/63–2/63)
3. For the text, see Foreign Relations, 1952–1954, vol. II, Part 2, National Security Affairs, pp. 1752–1754.
4. Not attached. A copy is attached to another copy of Murrow’s memorandum in the Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Departments and Agencies Series, Box 290, United States Information Agency, General, 1962—Inclusive. For the final version, contained in a memorandum from the President to Murrow, see Document 109.