729. Letter 46 from Johnson to McConaughy1
I have little to add to my telegram on today’s meeting. As you will see I still think they are working toward a position which they estimate will enable them to bring about at least an indefinite recess, most likely sometime after the elections and before the new year. I may well be wrong and you all may well be right, but I do not think it can be assumed because they have continued talking up to now they will continue to do so indefinitely. During past months I have been able to do a certain amount of stringing them along and dangling a certain amount of “pie in the sky”, but I have now largely run out of that as I have never been in a position where I could say if you do so and so we will do so and so. [Facsimile Page 2] I full well realize the reasons it has never been possible to enable me to take any such positions, but I know also that you realize the extremely narrow limits in which this has required I operate. As I did full well realize this at my last meeting I threw renunciation in the cultural exchange package and strengthened it today. My only point is that with the material now at hand, I do not feel confident that I will be able to keep things going much longer. Perhaps I feel low this afternoon after the verbal exercise of this morning and perhaps I am unduly pessimistic.
I had planned to make only a short speech this morning but he threw up so many balls I felt I had to field, that it turned out to be rather long. I could well have fielded some more but I thought I caught the most important ones.
At the moment I haven’t got the slightest notion of what to say at the next meeting. However, I hope that by then the three prisoners will be on their way so I can make a little mileage out of that.
Regards to all,
Sincerely,
American Ambassador
- Source: Department of State, Geneva Talks Files, Lot 72D415. Secret; Official–Informal. Johnson signed the original “Alex.”↩