Office of the Historian

Preface

Fredrick Aandahl supervised the planning, compilation, and review of this volume. William Z. Slany succeeded him as editor in 1975 and directed the process of declassification and final review. Ralph R. Goodwin assisted in planning and supervision.

Mr. Goodwin prepared the documentation concerning the United Nations; N. Stephen Kane prepared the documentation on the American Republics; and Harriet D. Schwar prepared the documentation relating to Canada. David H. Stauffer arranged for the declassification of the documents, and Ruth M. Worthing and Evans Gerakas provided editorial and technical assistance.

The editors acknowledge with appreciation the assistance provided by the staffs of the Harry S. Truman Library and the United States Mission to the United Nations, which helped in locating various documents and facilitated their declassification and publication. Thanks are also due to those foreign governments that kindly granted permission for publication of certain of their documents in this volume.

The technical editing of this volume was the responsibility of the Publishing and Reproduction Division (Paul Washington, Chief). The Index was prepared by Francis C. Prescott.

David F. Trask

The Historian
Bureau of Public Affairs

Principles for the Compilation and Editing of “Foreign Relations”

The principles which guide the compilation and editing of Foreign Relations are stated in Department of State Regulation 2 FAM 1350 of June 15, 1961, a revision of the order approved on March 26, 1925, by Mr. Frank B. Kellogg, then Secretary of State. The text of the regulation, as further amended, is printed below:

1350 Documentary Records of American Diplomacy

1351 Scope of Documentation

The publication Foreign Relations of the United States constitutes the official record of the foreign policy of the United States. These volumes include, subject to necessary security considerations, all documents [Page IV] needed to give a comprehensive record of the major foreign policy decisions within the range of the Department of State’s responsibilities, together with appropriate materials concerning the facts which contributed to the formulation of policies. When further material is needed to supplement the documentation in the Department’s files for a proper understanding of the relevant policies of the United States, such papers should be obtained from other Government agencies.

1352 Editorial Preparation

The basic documentary diplomatic record to be printed in Foreign Relations of the United States is edited by the Historical Office, Bureau of Public Affairs of the Department of State. The editing of the record is guided by the principles of historical objectivity. There may be no alteration of the text, no deletion without indicating where in the text the deletion is made, and no omission of facts which were of major importance in reaching a decision. Nothing may be omitted for the purpose of concealing or glossing over what might be regarded by some as a defect of policy. However, certain omissions of documents are permissible for the following reasons:

a.
To avoid publication of matters which would tend to impede current diplomatic negotiations or other business.
b.
To condense the record and avoid repetition of needless details.
c.
To preserve the confidence reposed in the Department by individuals and by foreign governments.
d.
To avoid giving needless offense to other nationalities or individuals.
e.
To eliminate personal opinions presented in despatches and not acted upon by the Department. To this consideration there is one qualification—in connection with major decisions it is desirable, where possible, to show the alternative presented to the Department before the decision was made.

1353 Clearance

To obtain appropriate clearances of material to be published in Foreign Relations of the United States, the Historical Office:

a.
Refers to the appropriate policy offices of the Department and of other agencies of the Government such papers as appear to require policy clearance.
b.
Refers to the appropriate foreign governments requests for permission to print as part of the diplomatic correspondence of the United States those previously unpublished documents which were originated by the foreign governments.