328. Letter from Rusk to McNamara, June 221
Our staffs have been in touch regarding recommendations to be forwarded to the President on your proposals for balance of payments savings, as a result of your letter of June 15. We gather your people are now in process of developing these proposals and that they will be made available to us at the earliest possible moment. As soon as we have received and reviewed them, I would propose that we meet to exchange views on any issues or questions which may arise. Presumably, we should shoot for recommendations to the President shortly after his return from Europe, though, of course, how quickly we here can move depends to some extent on how soon we receive your proposals and how far reaching they are.
In connection with the broader issues underlying our troop deployments in Europe and the Stikker exercise, your suggestion for a meeting later in July seems entirely appropriate, though I am not certain that the latter will by then have matured sufficiently to present major problems. I suggest July 11 as a date for such a meeting. I think it would be wise for us to limit our agenda to these two major items so that we can have a review in some depth. My staff will be preparing substantive papers on these subjects which they will coordinate with your people in advance of the meeting. This should give us a common point of departure for our discussions.
With warm regards,
Sincerely,
- Response to McNamara’s proposals for balance of payments savings. Secret. 1 p. Department of State, Central Files, FN 12.↩