April 1–May 3: Discussions on the Site for Talks


170. Telegram From the Embassy in Vietnam to the Department of State

Source: National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, Central Files 1967–69, POL 27 VIET S. Confidential; Immediate; Exdis. Repeated to CINCPAC for POLAD.


171. Telephone Conversation Between President Johnson and Senator J. William Fulbright

Source: Johnson Library, Recordings and Transcripts, Recording of Telephone Conversation Between Johnson and Fulbright, April 1, 1968, 4:03 p.m., Tape F6804.01, PNO 10. No classification marking. This transcript was prepared specifically for this volume in the Office of the Historian.


172. Notes of Meeting

Source: Johnson Library, Tom Johnson’s Notes of Meetings. No classification marking. Transcribed from a handwritten text. The meeting, which took place at a luncheon in the Mansion of the White House, began at 1:01 p.m., but there is no indication when it ended. The President returned to the Oval Office from the Mansion at 4:55 p.m. Those attending were the President, Clifford, Katzenbach, Helms, Wheeler, Rostow, Christian, and Tom Johnson. (Ibid., President’s Daily Diary)


173. Telephone Conversation Among President Johnson, Senator Mike Mansfield, and Secretary of Defense Clifford

Source: Johnson Library, Recordings and Transcripts, Recording of Telephone Conversation Among Johnson, Mansfield, and Clifford, April 2, 1968, 2:10 p.m., Tape F6804.01, PNO 11. No classification marking. This transcript was prepared specifically for this volume in the Office of the Historian.


174. Notes of Telephone Conversation

Source: Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Harriman Papers, Special Files, Public Service, Kennedy-Johnson, Chron./Sched.—April 1968. Secret; Personal; Nodis.


176. Memorandum of Conversation

Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Files of Walt Rostow, Kennedy, Robert F. Secret; Sensitive. The meeting lasted until 11:41 a.m. (Ibid., President’s Daily Diary) The President discussed the meeting beforehand with Chicago Mayor Richard Daley. (Ibid., Recordings and Transcripts, Recording of Telephone Conversation Between Johnson and Daley, April 3, 1968, 8:23 a.m., Tape 6804.01, PNO 13) Soon after the meeting began, the President received a call from Clifford at which time they discussed what to say to Sorensen. (Ibid., Recording of Telephone Conversation Between Johnson and Clifford, April 3, 1968, 10:30 a.m., Tape 6804.01, PNO 14)


177. Notes of Meeting

Source: Johnson Library, Tom Johnson’s Notes of Meetings. No classification marking. Transcribed from Tom Johnson’s handwritten notes. Those attending the meeting, which lasted from 12:29 to 1:29 p.m., were the Vice President, Katzenbach, Goldberg, Fowler, Clifford, Clark, O’Brien, Smith, General Taylor, Interior Secretary Stewart Udall, Commerce Secretary Cyrus Smith, Under Secretary of Agriculture John Schnittker, Secretary of Labor Willard Wirtz, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare-designate Wilbur Cohen, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Robert Weaver, Secretary of Transportation Alan Boyd, and Presidential aides John Macy, Leonard Marks, Barefoot Sanders, Mike Manatos, Ernest Goldstein, John Roche, Ervin Duggan, Charles Maguire, and Tom Johnson. (Ibid., President’s Daily Diary) A full transcript of the recording of the meeting is ibid., Transcripts of Meetings in the Cabinet Room.


178. Notes of Meeting

Source: Johnson Library, Tom Johnson’s Notes of Meetings. No classification marking. Transcribed from Tom Johnson’s handwritten notes. Those attending the meeting, which lasted from 3:15 to 5:05 p.m., were the President, Clifford, Wheeler, Katzenbach, Bundy, Helms, Rostow, Goldberg, Harriman, Thompson, Christian, and Tom Johnson. (Johnson Library, President’s Daily Diary)


179. Memorandum From the President’s Special Consultant (Taylor) to President Johnson

Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Vietnam, 8 I, 1/67–12/68, Taylor Memos—General. Secret. In an attached note transmitting the memorandum to the President, April 4, Rostow wrote: “Herewith, as usual, Gen. Taylor produces a lucid and cogent memo on the first phase of the negotiations with Hanoi.” The notation “ps” on the covering memorandum indicates that the President saw Taylor’s memorandum.


180. Notes on Telephone Conversation

Source: Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Harriman Papers, Special Files, Public Service, Kennedy-Johnson, Chron./Schedule—April 1968. Confidential; Personal. Prepared by Davidson.


181. Notes of Meeting

Source: Johnson Library, Tom Johnson’s Notes of Meetings. Top Secret. The meeting was held at the United Nations. Those attending were the President, U Thant, Goldberg, Jones, and Tom Johnson. The President was in New York for the day in order to attend the ordination of Archbishop Terrence James Cooke. The President had requested that Goldberg arrange the meeting with U Thant following the service. (Ibid., President’s Daily Dairy)


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

Source: National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, Central Files 1967–69, POL 27–14 VIET/CROCODILE. Secret; Immediate. Drafted by Read and Davidson on April 3; cleared by Harriman, Read, Bundy, and Rostow; and approved by Katzenbach. Also sent to Vientiane and repeated to Saigon and as Tosec 74 to Rusk in Wellington during his visit to New Zealand for the ANZUS Council meeting. The text of this message was repeated in telegram 142994 to New Delhi, Moscow, Paris, and London, April 6, and transmitted to U Thant in telegram 143091 to The Hague, April 7. (Ibid.) For a record of the ANZUS meeting, see Document 183.


183. Record of ANZUS Council Meeting

Source: National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, Central Files 1967–69, DEF 4 ANZUS. Secret; Limdis. Rusk represented the United States, Prime Minister Keith Holyoake acted as host and represented New Zealand, and Minister for External Affairs Paul Hasluck led Australia’s delegation to the Seventeeth ANZUS Council meeting. The record was prepared by Robert Lindquist, Country Director for Australia and New Zealand in EA.


185. Notes of Meeting

Source: Johnson Library, Tom Johnson’s Notes of Meetings. Top Secret. The meeting, which was held in the White House, lasted from 1:30 to 5:10 p.m. (Ibid., President’s Daily Diary) Westmoreland was in Washington because the President’s planned trip to meet with him in Honolulu was canceled due to riots following the April 4 assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.


186. Notes of Meeting

Source: Johnson Library, Tom Johnson’s Notes of Meetings. Top Secret. The notes were prepared on April 8. The meeting, which was held in the Cabinet Room from 3:05 to 4 p.m., followed the President’s luncheon with Westmoreland and Rusk. (Ibid., President’s Daily Diary) A complete transcript of the meeting and a summary are ibid., Transcripts of Meetings in the Cabinet Room. A list of participants is at the end of the notes.


187. Notes of Meeting

Source: Johnson Library, Meeting Notes File. Secret. Drafted by Christian. The meeting was held in the Cabinet Room.


188. Memorandum From the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs (Bundy) to Secretary of State Rusk

Source: National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, Central Files 1967–69, POL 27 VIET S. Top Secret.


189. Notes of Meeting

Source: Johnson Library, Meeting Notes File. Top Secret. Drafted by Christian. The notes are a digest of a series of meetings that occurred on April 9 at Camp David. Bunker arrived at Camp David at 8 a.m. with Rusk, McNamara, and Wheeler, and immediately joined the President, Rostow, Christian, and Jones. After breakfast the group met in the living room of the Aspen Lodge from 9:04 until 10:30 a.m. Following brief remarks to a group of reporters, the group continued to meet from 10:50 until 12:25 p.m., when the President left to greet Bundy and Harriman at the helipad. A working lunch began at 12:50 and lasted until 1:25 p.m., when the President retired for a nap. The President rejoined the discussion at 2:15 p.m. The meeting ended at 4:15 p.m., and the President, accompanied by Bunker and Harriman, answered reporters’ questions. Those who had arrived that day returned to Washington at 4:30 p.m. by helicopter. (Ibid., President’s Daily Diary) For the President’s statements to the press, see Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1968–69, Book I, pp. 500–502.


190. Information Memorandum From the President’s Special Assistant (Rostow) to President Johnson

Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Memos to the President, Walt Rostow, Vol. 71. Secret.


191. Memorandum of Telephone Conversation Between the Ambassador at Large (Harriman) and President Johnson

Source: Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Harriman Papers, Special Files, Public Service, Kennedy-Johnson, Chronological/Schedule, April 1968. No classification marking. The President’s Daily Diary notes a telephone call by the President to Harriman at 11:46 a.m. on April 11. (Johnson Library)


192. Memorandum of Telephone Conversation Between the Ambassador at Large (Harriman) and Cyrus R. Vance

Source: Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Harriman Papers, Special Files, Public Service, Kennedy-Johnson, Chronological/Schedule, April 1968. No classification marking.


193. Notes of Meeting

Source: Johnson Library, Transcripts of Meetings in the Cabinet Room. No classification marking. The President met alone with Mills from 2:26 to 3:10 p.m. (Ibid., Daily Diary) These are summary notes of the meeting; a complete record of the meeting is the transcript made from its recording. (Ibid., Transcripts of Meetings in the Cabinet Room)


194. Telegram From the Embassy in Vietnam to the Department of State

Source: National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, Central Files 1967–69, POL 27–14 VIET/CROCODILE. Secret; Immediate; Nodis; Crocodile. Received at 8:04 a.m.


195. Memorandum From the President’s Special Assistant (Rostow) to President Johnson

Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Vietnam, Crocodile, General, Chronological Summary, Vol. I [2 of 2]. Confidential. Sent as telegram CAP 80812, April 13, to the LBJ Ranch where the President had traveled the previous day.


196. Memorandum From the President’s Special Assistant (Rostow) to President Johnson

Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Memos to the President, Walt Rostow, Vol. 72. Confidential. Apparently sent to the President at the Ranch.


197. Telegram From the President’s Special Assistant (Rostow) to the Executive Secretary of the National Security Council (Smith)

Source: National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, Central Files 1967–69, POL 27–14 VIET/CROCODILE. Top Secret. Received at 3:07 p.m.; no dispatch time is indicated. Rostow was with the President on board Air Force One en route to Honolulu. Smith forwarded the message to Rusk under cover of an attached note.


198. Notes of Meeting

Source: Johnson Library, Tom Johnson’s Notes of Meetings. No classification marking. Transcribed from Tom Johnson’s handwritten notes. The meeting, which lasted from 10 a.m. to approximately 1 p.m., was held at CINCPAC. The principal individuals attending were the President, Wheeler, Ambassador to Korea William Porter, Chief of Protocol Angier Biddle Duke, Rostow, Bundy, Vance, Murphy, Sharp, McCain, General Charles Bonesteel of the Joint Staff, and Krulak. (Ibid., President’s Daily Diary)


199. Telegram From the Executive Secretary of the National Security Council (Smith) to the President’s Special Assistant (Rostow) in Hawaii

Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Vietnam, 6 G (4)b, 4/11–24/68, Talks with Hanoi. Secret.