ASSESSMENT OF THE U.S. ROLE AND THE DECISION TO EXPAND THE U.S. COMMITMENT, JUNE 13-JULY 28
1. Telegram From the Commander, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (Westmoreland) to the Commander in Chief, Pacific (Sharp)
Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Vietnam, Vol. XXXV, Cables (B). Top Secret; Immediate. Repeated to JCS.
2. Telegram From the Embassy in Vietnam to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 15 VIET S. Secret; Priority; Limdis. Repeated to Bangkok, Vientiane, Hue, and CINCPAC for POLAD. Passed to the White House, DOD, and CIA.
3. Memorandum of Telephone Conversation Between President Johnson and the Under Secretary of State (Ball)
Source: Johnson Library, Papers of George Ball, Vietnam I. No classification marking. Drafted in Ball’s office.
4. Telegram From the White House to the Embassy in the United Kingdom
Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 27-14 VIET. Top Secret; Exdis.
5. Telegram From the Embassy in Vietnam to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 27 VIET S. Secret; Priority; Nodis. No time of transmission is indicated on the source text; the telegram was received at 10:01 a.m. and passed to the White House. On a copy of this telegram, which was retyped for the President’s reading file, there is an indication in the margin that the President saw it. (Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Vietnam, NODIS-LOR, Vol. II (A))
7. Memorandum From the Under Secretary of State (Ball) to President Johnson
Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Vietnam, Vol. XXXV, Memos (D). Top Secret. For President Johnson’s reactions to this memorandum, see Document 11.
8. Memorandum From the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy) to President Johnson
Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Memos to the President, McGeorge Bundy, Vol. XI. No classification marking. A handwritten notation on the source text indicates that the President saw the memorandum.
9. Telegram From the Embassy in Vietnam to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 15 VIET S. Secret; Priority. Received at 8:35 a.m. and repeated to Algiers, Bangkok, Bonn, Canberra, Djakarta, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, London, Manila, New Delhi, Paris, Rangoon, Rome, Seoul, Tokyo, Vientiane, Wellington, CINCPAC for POLAD, and Hue. Passed to the White House, DOD, and CIA.
10. Memorandum From the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy) to President Johnson
Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Memos to the President, McGeorge Bundy, Vol. XI. No classification marking. Attached is a note, dated June 21, which indicates that the President instructed his secretary to put Senator Wayne Morse’s memorandum on his desk the next day, because “I’ve got to read that memorandum tomorrow.”
11. Memorandum of Telephone Conversation Between the Under Secretary of State (Ball) and the President’s Special Assistant (Moyers)
Source: Johnson Library, Papers of George Ball, Vietnam I. No classification marking. Transcribed by Jacquelyn Taylor in Ball’s office.
12. Telegram From the Embassy in Vietnam to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 27 VIET S. Secret; Priority; Nodis. The source text does not indicate a time of transmission; the telegram was received at 10:51 a.m.
13. Telegram From the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Wheeler) to the Commander, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (Westmoreland)
Source: Center of Military History, Westmoreland Papers, COMUSMACV Message Files. Top Secret. Also sent to Admiral Sharp.
14. Agenda Prepared by the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy)
Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Memos to the President, McGeorge Bundy, Vol. XI. Secret. Bundy sent this annotated agenda to the President at 4:15 p.m., under cover of a brief memorandum describing it.
15. Memorandum for the Record
Source: Central Intelligence Agency, DCI (Helms) Files, Job 80 BO 1285A, Chrono as DDP and DDCI, 1 Jan-31 Dec 65. Secret. Prepared by Helms on June 24.
17. Telegram From the Commander, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (Westmoreland) to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Wheeler)
Source: Center of Military History, Westmoreland Papers,COMUSMACV Message Files. Top Secret. Also sent to Admiral Sharp.
18. Memorandum From the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy) to President Johnson
Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Memos to the President, McGeorge Bundy, Vol. XI. Confidential.
19. Memorandum From the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy) to President Johnson
Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Memos to the President, McGeorge Bundy, Vol. XI. No classification marking.
20. Telegram From the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy) to President Johnson, in Texas
Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Vietnam, Vol. XXXVI. Top Secret; Exdis. A note on the source text indicates that the telegram was received at the LBJ Ranch at 11:25 a.m. and that the President saw it.
21. Memorandum of Telephone Conversation Between the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy) and the Under Secretary of State (Ball)
Source: Johnson Library, Papers of George Ball, Vietnam I. No classification marking.
22. Telegram From the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy) to President Johnson, in Texas
Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Vietnam, Vol. XXXVI. Secret. A note on the source text indicates that the telegram was received at the LBJ Ranch at 5:22 p.m. and shown to the President.
23. Telegram From the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy) to President Johnson, in Texas
Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Vietnam, Vol. XXXVI. Confidential. A note on the source text indicates this telegram was sent to the LBJ Ranch at 6:41 p.m.
24. Memorandum From the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy) to President Johnson
Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Memos to the President, McGeorge Bundy, Vol. XI. Secret.
25. Memorandum From the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy) to President Johnson
Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Vietnam, 41-Point Program in Non-Military Sphere in SVN. Secret.
26. Paper by the Under Secretary of State (Ball)
Source: Department of State, S/S Files: Lot 70 D 48, Memos to the President on VN Feb. 1965-Apr. 1966. Top Secret. Sent to Rusk and to McNamara, McGeorge Bundy, William Bundy, McNaughton, and Unger under a June 28 covering memorandum from Ball, which explained that an expanded version of the paper would be circulated to the group prior to the meeting scheduled to discuss the paper on June 29. The text of the expanded paper is ibid. The text printed here, which was prepared in response to President Johnson’s June 23 instruction, was drafted by Ball, with support from his staff, William Bundy, and several INR staff members. The final analysis and drafting was done by Ball. (Johnson Library, Papers of William P. Bundy, Ch. 26, p. 23)
William Bundy recalls that when Ball’s paper was discussed in the Department of State on June 29 by the group to which it was circulated, it was the summary that was the focus of the discussion, and it was criticized as outlining “the worst way to lose if it came to that.” The group felt that it was “absurd to insist on a new perfection just as the going was at its worst; to Asian eyes, it would have been the most cynical exit method possible.” (Ibid., Ch. 27, p. 6) In light of this criticism, Ball modified his proposal in the paper he sent to the President on July 1; see Document 40.
27. Memorandum From the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy) to President Johnson
Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Memos to the President, McGeorge Bundy, Vol. XI. Confidential. The source text is marked with an indication that the President saw it on June 28.
28. Telegram From the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Wheeler) to the Commander, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (Westmoreland)
Source: Center of Military History, Westmoreland Papers, COMUSMACV Message Files. Top Secret. Also sent to Admiral Sharp.
29. Telegram From the Embassy in Vietnam to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 27 VIET S. Top Secret; Immediate; Limdis. Received at 10:18 p.m. on June 28 and repeated to CINCPAC. Passed to the White House, the Department of Defense, and CIA.
30. Memorandum From Chester L. Cooper and James C. Thomson of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy)
Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Vietnam, Vol. XXXV. Secret.