386. Memorandum of telephone conversation between McGeorge Bundy and Ball, October 241
Bundy—My understanding for tonight is that we are not going to start our interception in the hours of darkness. Is that your understanding too.
Ball—Yes, that’s right.
Bundy—Walt’s very good memorandum does not have Presidential standing. What he approved was the spokesman’s statement and nothing else.
Ball—I understood this was a memorandum for the President, which I presume he has not seen. Is that right?
Bundy—Which one?
Ball—Walt’s memorandum.
Bundy—Yes, it was a very good memorandum and a very helpful one, but the President was concentrating on the announcement and not on anything else. Roz and I talked a little while ago. Bob was tied up with the press and my distinct understanding is that the orders are to let the night go by and to examine in the morning who we stop, when, in what order and how much we can control it.
Ball—I think that’s fine. There is a newspaper story that our press people have had that the President was quoted by one of the people who was at the Congressional briefing as having said that we were not going to stop tankers.
Bundy—No, what he went [meant] was that there was no quarantine for tankers. Your boss just said to me that he didn’t really know [Typeset Page 1177] that he wanted to have a confrontation of a tanker that had gone 3 weeks before that almost surely did only contain oil.
Ball—He and I have not settled this argument between us.
Bundy—I understand so, and I think we just ought to leave that indeterminant. The only thing the President can have meant is the way the background that is.
Ball—That it didn’t include POL.
[Facsimile Page 2]Bundy—That the quarantine did not include POL, as the Proclamation now stands, and as the Sec. of Defense’s supplementary instructions now stand. Don’t you think that’s the way to do that?
Ball—Yes.
Bundy—I wasn’t at theand maybe I’ll see what he did say. And give you a warning.
Ball—I will be here all night. If there is nothing different let me know one way or another.
Bundy—I will. Ted Clifton will be the senior man at the WH tonight.
Ball—OK. Fine.
- Timing for interception of ships at sea. No classification marking. 2 pp. DOS, Ball Papers: Lot 74 D 272, Telcons—Cuba.↩