Office of the Historian

464. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Vietnam1

Washington, December 24, 1964—1:42 p.m.

1346. For the Ambassador from the Secretary. Following telegram2 gives you our latest reaction to separate channel message on PNG possibility.3 In further reference to Saigon’s 19304 believe effort should be made to defuse issue of personalities and keep in front the issue that effective unity among Vietnamese leaders is essential to success of SVN effort. Personality issue as used by Khanh is false issue and we should attempt to keep in front the basic issue of unity and an effective government whatever the formula South Vietnamese leaders find to bring it about.

Rusk
  1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 27 VIET S. Top Secret; Flash; Exdis. Repeated to the Department of Defense and the White House.↩
  2. Infra.↩
  3. Presumably reference is to cable 240442Z which described a meeting of South Vietnamese officers on December 23 at which they decided to propose that Taylor be declared persona non grata. (Declassified Documents, 1979,132A)↩
  4. Telegram 1930, December 24, 11 p.m., reported that Taylor had met with U.S. press representatives that day and briefed them for background only on the situation in Saigon. (Department of State, Central Files, POL 23–9)↩