383. Editorial Note
At 6 p.m. on December 2, 1963, Secretary of State Rusk met with President Johnson to discuss Cuba. Also attending were Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, Director of Central Intelligence McCone, Director of the United States Information Agency Donald Wilson, and Special Assistant to the President McGeorge Bundy. Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs Edwin Martin, who apparently also attended the meeting, prepared a paper setting forth talking points for Secretary Rusk, December 2. (Department of State, S/S Files: Lot 66 D 501, Cuba) See the Supplement.
According to a memorandum from Gordon Chase to McGeorge Bundy, Bundy asked Chase to produce a “Cuban monograph” for the meeting. Chase produced a paper that he described as “an effort which attempts to give a broad sense of the main threads and problems of our policy towards Cuba, with an indication as to where we appear to be heading.”Chase admitted to Bundy, “I do not yet have a real feel as to how much the President knows about Cuba,” and he was not sure his paper would meet Bundy’s needs, but he suggested Bundy was free to do with it what he thought best. (Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Cuba, Meetings, 12/63-3/65)Chase’s paper has not been found. Chase was slated to be the notetaker at the meeting, but in light of President Johnson’s inclination to “abhor a crowd,”Chase volunteered to drop out. (Memorandum from Chase to Bundy, December 2; ibid.) If Chase did not attend, there may have been no notetaker and thus no record of the meeting.