384. Editorial Note
On December 5, 1963, President Johnson held his first National Security Council meeting. The topic was “Soviet Military Capabilities.” Following a briefing by Director of Central Intelligence McCone, the President asked Secretary of State Rusk to comment. According to the summary record of the meeting, Rusk “emphasized that despite the problems which the Soviet Union is having in the economic field, and despite our nuclear superiority, the Russians are making a tremendous effort. We cannot reduce our effort in any way—military, space, economic assistance, etc. We have a full agenda ahead of us. We should concentrate on those factors which make people pull the nuclear trigger. We should be ready to explore agreements with the Soviets which are based on our current military strength.” Secretary of Defense McNamara then commented on the relative military strength of the United States and the Soviet Union, noting that during the 1960s “our advantage over the USSR in the nuclear area will not fall below two times.” For text, see Foreign Relations, 1961–1963, volume VIII, pages 543–544.