448. Memorandum From the Director of Intelligence and Research (Hughes) to the Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs (Hilsman)

Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 15–1 Laos. Secret; No Foreign Dissem. No drafting information appears on the source text.

449. Telegram From the Department of State to Secretary of State Rusk, at Paris

Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 27–14 Laos. Secret; Operational Immediate; Limit Distribution. Drafted by Cross, cleared by Lloyd in S/S, and approved by Koren. Rusk was attending the Eighth Ministerial Meeting of the SEATO Council, April 8–10. Additional documentation is in volume XXIII.

450. Telegram From Secretary of State Rusk to the Department of State

Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 27 Laos. Secret; Operational Immediate; No Other Distribution.

451. Memorandum Prepared in the Department of State

Source: Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, Laos: General, 4/1/63–4/19/63. Secret. No drafting information appears on the source text. Regarding attachment 3, a paper on the critical situation concerning the Counter Insurgency Piaster Fund for Vietnam, see vol. III, p. 221.

452. Summary Record of the 511th National Security Council Meeting

Source: Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Meetings and Memoranda Series, NSC Meetings, 1963, No. 511, April 10, 1963. Top Secret. The meeting, which took place in the Cabinet Room of the White House, lasted until 12:50 p.m. (Ibid., President’s Appointment Book)

453. Telegram From the Embassy in Laos to the Department of State

Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 27 Laos. Confidential; Priority. Repeated to Bangkok, London, CINCPAC for POLAD, Paris, Moscow, Saigon, Phnom Penh, New Delhi, and Ottawa.

454. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Laos

Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 27 Laos. Secret; Operational Immediate. Drafted by Cross, cleared in substance with Hilsman and in draft with Rice, and approved by Koren. Sent priority to CINCPAC, and to Bangkok, Paris, London, Ottawa, and New Delhi.

455. Memorandum of Telephone Conversation Between the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (Harriman) and President Kennedy

Source: Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Harriman Papers, Chronology, Telephone Conversations, February to April, 1963. No classification marking. Transcribed in Harriman’s office.

456. Memorandum From Michael V. Forrestal of the National Security Council Staff to President Kennedy

Source: Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, Laos: General, 4/1/63–4/19/63. Secret. Drafted by Forrestal.

457. Memorandum for the Record

Source: Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, Laos: General, 4/1/63–4/19/63. Secret.

458. Memorandum From the [text not declassified] Directorate of Plans (Colby) to Director of Central Intelligence McCone

Source: Central Intelligence Agency, DCI-McCone Files, [text not declassified]. Secret. Sent via the Deputy Director (Plans).

459. Summary Record of the 512th National Security Council Meeting

Source: Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Meetings and Memoranda Series, NSC Meetings, No. 512, April 4, 1963. Top Secret. The meeting lasted until 11:55 a.m. (Ibid., President’s Appointment Book) For William Colby’s account of this meeting, see Document 460.

460. Memorandum From the [text not declassified] Directorate of Plans (Colby) to Director of Central Intelligence McCone

Source: Central Intelligence Agency, DCI-McCone Files, [text not declassified]. Secret. Sent via the Deputy Director (Plans).

461. National Security Council Record of Action No. 2465

Source: Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Meetings and Memoranda Series, NSC Meetings, No. 512, April 20, 1963. Secret.

462. Memorandum of Telephone Conversation Between President Kennedy and the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (Harriman)

Source: Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Harriman Papers, Chronology File, Telephone Conversations, February to April 1963. No classification marking. Transcribed in Harriman’s office. A note on the source text indicates that Rusk, Ball, Thompson, U. Alexis Johnson, and Hilsman were to see it.

463. Summary Record of the 513th National Security Council Meeting

Source: Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Meetings and Memoranda Series, NSC Meetings, No. 513, April 22, 1963. Top Secret.

464. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in the Soviet Union

Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 7 US/Harriman. Secret; Operational Immediate. Drafted by Thompson, cleared in draft by Rusk and the White House, and approved by Thompson. Repeated operational immediate to London.

465. Memorandum From the Joint Chiefs of Staff to Secretary of Defense McNamara

Source: National Defense University, Taylor Papers, SEA, National Planning, #4. Top Secret.

466. Memorandum of Conversation

Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL Laos. Secret. No drafting information appears on the source text. It was approved in Harriman’s office on May 6. The meeting took place in the Office of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers at the Kremlin. A memorandum of conversation that includes all the topics discussed is in the Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Meetings and Memoranda, Standing Group Meetings, April 30, 1963.

In telegram 2756 from Moscow, April 27, Harriman reported that preceding his discussion with Khrushchev, he had a “two and one half hours rather sticky conversation” with Gromyko. Harriman sought to persuade Gromyko to use Soviet influence to make the mechanism of the Geneva Agreements of 1962 work more smoothly and influence North Vietnam to remove its troops. Harriman described Gromyko’s reply as “disjointed,” laying great stress on Quinim’s assassination, the presence of Chinese Nationalist forces in Laos, and denying that North Vietnamese troops were in Laos. To Harriman’s requests for action to influence the Pathet Lao, Gromyko replied that would be interference in Laos’ internal affairs. (Department of State, Central Files, POL & US/Harriman) A memorandum of Harriman’s conversation with Gromyko is in the Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Meetings and Memoranda, Standing Group Meetings, April 30, 1963. Another memorandum of the same discussion is in Department of State, Central Files, POL 27 Laos.

467. Memorandum for the Record

Source: National Defense University, Taylor Papers, White House Daily Staff Meetings, March to June, 1962, T–208–69. Secret; Eyes Only. Drafted by Colonel Legere. McGeorge Bundy presided throughout the meeting.

468. Memorandum From Michael V. Forrestal of the National Security Council Staff to President Kennedy

Source: Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, Laos: General, 5/1/63–5/20/63. Top Secret. Drafted by Forrestal.

469. Memorandum From the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (Harriman) to the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy)

Source: Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, Laos: General, 5/1/63–5/20/63. Secret. A note on the source text indicates the memorandum was part of the President’s weekend reading for May 11.

470. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Laos

Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 27 Laos. Secret; Priority. Drafted by Cross and Sullivan; cleared by Hilsman, Koren, Johannes V. Imhof of WE, Alf E. Bergesen of BNA, and in draft by Forrestal; and approved by Harriman. Repeated to Paris, London, Bangkok, and CINCPAC.

471. Memorandum From the Ambassador at Large (Thompson) to Secretary of State Rusk

Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 27–14 Laos. Top Secret; Eyes Only. Drafted by Thompson.

472. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Laos

Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 27 Laos. Top Secret. Drafted by Cross, cleared in draft with Heinz and with Koren, and approved by Hilsman. Repeated to London, Bangkok, Paris, and CINCPAC.

473. Memorandum From Michael V. Forrestal of the National Security Council Staff to President Kennedy

Source: Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, Laos: General, 5/21/63–5/30/63. Secret. Drafted by Forrestal.

474. Memorandum From Michael V. Forrestal of the National Security Council Staff to President Kennedy

Source: Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, Laos: General, 6/1/63–6/15/63. Secret. Drafted by Forrestal.

475. Memorandum From Michael V. Forrestal of the National Security Council Staff to President Kennedy

Source: Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, Laos: General, 6/1/63–6/15/63. Secret. Drafted by Forrestal. A note on the source text indicates it was taken from the President’s weekend reading of June 7.

476. Memorandum from Michael V. Forrestal of the National Security Council Staff to President Kennedy

Source: Kennedy Library, National Security Files, Countries Series, Laos: General, 6/1/63–6/15/63. Top Secret. Drafted by Forrestal. A note on the source text indicates it was taken from the President’s weekend reading of June 15–16.

477. Memorandum From Michael V. Forrestal of the National Security Council Staff to President Kennedy

Source: Kennedy Library, President’s Office Files, Countries, Laos Security, Laos Planning Material, 6/18/63. Top Secret.