U.S. Policy Regarding the Congo Crisis: Support of the U.N. Intervention; Concern With the Possibility of Soviet Intervention; Concern With the Political Situation; Policy Regarding Katanga
180. Memorandum of Discussion at the 456th Meeting of the National Security Council
Source: Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, NSC Records. Top Secret. Drafted by Johnson on August 25.
181. Memorandum From the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Twining) to Secretary of Defense Gates
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 770G.56300/8–2960. Secret. Enclosed with a letter of August 29 from Douglas to Herter. The Department of State was informed of the memorandum by telephone on August 18 in a call from the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs. The caller indicated that the Department of Defense wished to repudiate a statement in telegram 395 from Brussels to the effect that U.S. military authorities did not consider the Belgian bases of strategic value to the West. (Memorandum of telephone conversation by Joseph Sweeney of the Office of United Nations Political and Security Affairs, August 18; ibid., 770G.56355/8–1860) Telegram 395 from Brussels, August 4, is ibid., 770G.00/4–60; the statement was based on Document 160.
182. Telegram From the Embassy in the Congo to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 770G.00/8–1860. Confidential; Priority. Repeated priority to Brussels.
183. Telegram From the Embassy in the Congo to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 770G.00/8–1960. Secret; Priority. Repeated to USUN and Tunis.
184. Telegram From the Mission at the United Nations to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 770G.00/8–1960. Secret; Priority.
185. Telegram From the Department of State to Certain Diplomatic Missions
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 770.00/8–2060. Secret; Priority. Drafted by Ferguson; cleared by Satterthwaite, White, Brown, and Deputy Director of the Office of Near Eastern and South Asian Regional Affairs A. Guy Hope, and in substance by Wallner and Deputy Director of the Office of Near Eastern Affairs Nicholas G. Thatcher; and approved by Hare. Sent to 14 embassies in Africa and repeated to Léopoldville, Brussels, London, Paris, and USUN.
187. Memorandum From the Board of National Estimates to the Director of Central Intelligence (Dulles)
Source: Department of State, AF/AFC Files: Lot 65 D 261, U.S. Intelligence Board. Secret. A covering memorandum from Chester L. Cooper, Acting Assistant Director of National Estimates, indicated that the memorandum was intended for the U.S. Intelligence Board and had been prepared pursuant to its directives. The text printed here was sent to Ferguson by Robert D. Baum, Chief of the Africa Division in the Office of Research and Analysis for Mid-East and Africa, Department of State, with attached comments, stating that the CIA had resisted efforts by other agencies to amend the document and make it a USIB document. The proposed amendments included the replacement of the first sentence of paragraph 6 by the following: “Although there have been reports of plots to assassinate Lumumba, it is improbable he will be killed. The practice of political assassination, which exists north of the Sahara, has not yet developed to the south, and no major African leader has yet been killed by fellow Africans. It is much more probable that Lumumba will not be removed by force, and that the internal Congolese political struggle will continue unresolved for some time.”
The following was proposed as a replacement for the first sentence of paragraph 13a:
“The adoption of some form of federal government, as proposed by Lumumba’s opponents, would strengthen the provinces. This would probably be coupled with a diminution of Lumumba’s power or possibly by his downfall as prime minister.”
190. Telegram From the Mission at the United Nations to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 770G.00/8–2660. Secret; Priority. Repeated to Léopoldville.
191. Telegram From the Department of State to the Mission at the United Nations
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 770G.00/8–2660. Secret; Priority. Drafted by Cargo and by Robert H. Miller of the Office of Western European Affairs; cleared by Blue, Ferguson, Buffum, Director of the Office of Soviet Union Affairs John M. McSweeney, and in substance with the Office of Greek, Turkish, and Iranian Affairs; and approved by Wilcox. Also sent to Léopoldville, Athens, Rome, and Ankara and repeated to Brussels and Paris.
192. Telegram From the Embassy in the Congo to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 770G.00/8–2960. Confidential. Also sent to USUN and Ottawa and repeated to Brussels.
193. Memorandum From the Deputy Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (Hare) to Secretary of State Herter
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 770G.00/8–3060. Secret; Eyes Only. Drafted by Meloy.
194. Letter From the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs (Irwin) to the Under Secretary of State (Dillon)
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 770G.00/8–3060. Confidential.
195. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Belgium
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 770G.00/9–160. Secret. Drafted and approved by Blue and cleared by Buffum, Wight, and Calhoun. Repeated to Léopoldville, USUN, and Paris.
196. Memorandum From the Joint Chiefs of Staff to Secretary of Defense Gates
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 770G.00/9–260. Secret. Enclosed with a letter of the same date from Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Robert H. Knight to Herter, which stated that Gates had reviewed an earlier draft and generally concurred with the JCS recommendations.
197. Telegram From the Department of State to the Mission at the United Nations
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 770G.00/8–2260. Secret. Drafted by Buffum and Ferguson; cleared by Kohler, White, and Satterthwaite; and approved by Wilcox. Repeated to Brussels, Léopoldville, Moscow, Paris, and London.
198. Telegram From the Mission at the United Nations to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 770G.00/9–560. Secret; Priority; Limited Distribution.
199. Memorandum of Discussion at the 458th Meeting of the National Security Council
Source: Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, NSC Records. Top Secret. Drafted by Johnson on September 12.
200. Telegram From the Embassy in the Congo to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 770G.00/9–760. Official Use Only; Niact. Repeated to Paris, London, USUN, and Brussels.
201. Telegram From the Mission at the United Nations to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 770G.00/9–760. Secret; Priority.
202. Telegram From the Mission at the United Nations to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 770G.00/9–760. Secret; Priority; Limited Distribution.
203. Memorandum on the Substance of Discussion at the Department of State-Joint Chiefs of Staff Meeting
Source: Department of State, State–JCS Meetings: Lot 70 D 328. Top Secret. The memorandum was a Department of State draft, not cleared with the Department of Defense. No other drafting information appears on the source text.
204. Telegram From the Embassy in the Congo to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 770G.00/9–960. Confidential. Also sent to USUN and repeated to Brussels.
205. Telegram From the Department of State to the Mission at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 770G.00/9–160. Secret; Limit Distribution. Drafted by Miller and Chadbourn; cleared by Ferguson, Sisco, Blue, Director of the Office of European Regional Affairs Russell Fessenden, and McBride; and approved by White. Repeated to Brussels, London, and the Embassy in Paris.
206. Telegram From the Mission at the United Nations to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 770G.00/9–1060. Secret.
207. Telegram From the Embassy in the Congo to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 770G.00/9–1060. Official Use Only. Repeated to Brussels, Paris, London, and USUN.
208. Memorandum of Telephone Conversation Between Secretary of State Herter and Secretary-General Hammarskjöld
Source: Eisenhower Library, Herter Papers, Telephone Conversations. No classification marking. Prepared by Mildred Asbjornson of the Secretary’s staff.
209. Telegram From the Department of State to the Mission at the United Nations
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 770G.00/9–1260. Drafted by Satterthwaite, Wilcox, and Assistant Legal Adviser for United Nations Affairs Leonard C. Meeker and approved by Herter. Repeated to Léopoldville.
- This is apparently the NSC meeting concerning which Johnson testified on June 18, 1975, before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. He stated his recollection that at an NSC meeting during the summer of 1960, “President Eisenhower said something—I can no longer remember his words—that came across to me as an order for the assassination of Lumumba who was then at the center of political conflict and controversy in the Congo.” Johnson stated that this was his impression at the time but that, in retrospect, he was uncertain whether it was an accurate reading of the President’s meaning; both Dillon and Boggs testified before the Committee that they did not recall such a statement by the President. See Senate Select Committee, Interim Report, pp. 55–60. Neither this nor any other memorandum of NSC discussion in the Whitman File records such a statement by the President. The only other NSC meeting during the summer of 1960 at which the Congo was discussed and at which both Eisenhower and Johnson were present was on September 7, but Johnson’s memorandum of that meeting records no comment by the President concerning the Congo; see Document 199.↩
- The discussion took place at the Department of Defense.↩