Office of the Historian

204. Information Memorandum From the President’s Special Assistant (Rostow) to President Johnson1

Washington, November 8, 1968, 1:05 p.m.

Mr. President:

We have just completed a meeting at Sect. Rusk’s office, which included Sect. Clifford, Nick Katzenbach, and Bill Bundy, as well as myself.2

It was agreed that we would draft for your consideration a message to Thieu, via Bunker, which would not, at this stage, be a direct Presidential letter but rather an oral message from the highest levels of the U.S. Government.

The message would, essentially, make these points:

  • —Thieu’s proposal of today that South Vietnam chair the delegation in Paris is not acceptable;
  • —On the other hand, we can offer an agreed statement underlining a leading role for the GVN and the leading role in matters affecting the future of South Vietnam itself. Such an agreed statement could also include reference, once again, to the fact that we shall not recognize the NLF as an independent entity, etc.
  • —We would underline strongly the necessity for Saigon to get its delegation to Paris next week;
  • —We would tell them that if they cannot get to Paris next week, we are prepared to open talks with the other side on our own, on the issues of direct concern to the U.S.

The line-up of opinion was:

  • —Clark Clifford: Tell them we’re going to open up with the other side in Paris next week, and let them sweat;
  • —Sect. Rusk: Give them one last face-saving way out, but tell them that we shall go it alone if they can’t quickly find an acceptable formula;
  • —Nick Katzenbach: Same view as Sect. Rusk;
  • —Bill Bundy: More cautious about telling them bluntly that we shall go it alone. Bundy thought that the President should first get Nixon aboard on that proposition.

I shall be giving you the draft text as soon as I receive it.3

Walt
  1. Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Vietnam, Memos to the President/Bombing Halt Decision, Vol. V. Secret; HARVAN Double Plus. A handwritten notation on the memorandum reads: “Put on desk.”↩
  2. The meeting, which began at 11:25 a.m. and lasted until 12:25 a.m., also included Read. (Ibid., Dean Rusk Appointment Books, 1968-1969) No other record of the meeting has been found.↩
  3. For the message to Thieu, see Document 206.↩