358. Memorandum From President Kennedy to Secretary of Defense McNamara1
The events of the past few days in the Dominican Republic and Honduras2 show that the situation could develop in the Caribbean which would require active United States military intervention. I am not sure that we are prepared for this satisfactorily as there is a large area involved; for example, how many troops could we get into the Dominican Republic in a 12-24-36-48 hour period? How many into Honduras? How many into Venezuela?
I think this matter deserves the highest priority. The State Department should be informed of the results of your study as they may be under the impression that we are prepared—which might be unwarranted.
After you have surveyed the matter I think we should have a meeting on this.3
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 26 DOM REP. Top Secret. The source text was transmitted under cover of a memorandum from Department of State Executive Secretary Read to the Secretary for his information.↩
- On September 25 Air Force Chief of Staff Miguel Atila Luna and Colonel Elias Wessin y Wessin ousted President Bosch from power. They cited Bosch’s ineptitude, corruption, failure to keep electoral promises, and the growth of Communist influence within the Dominican Government as reasons. The following day it was announced that a “Triumvirate” composed of Emilio de los Santos, Ramon Tapia, and Manuel Tavares would assume power in the Republic. On September 28 Ambassador Martin; Newell F. Williams, Director of the AID mission in Santo Domingo; and Colonel David C. Wolfe, Chief of the Military Assistance and Advisory Group were recalled to Washington. Spencer King, Deputy Chief of Mission, was left as Charge d’Affaires. On October 3 the government of President Ramon Villeda Morales in Honduras was overthrown.↩
- No record of any such meeting was found.↩
- Kennedy’s initials appear in an unidentified hand, indicating he signed the original.↩