37. Notes of Telephone Conversation1
The President
Robert Carswell
The President said he was calling because he was very upset about leaks out of the Treasury about the balance of payments. It has hurt us and more than that it has hurt my pride. Anybody over there who can’t be loyal to us ought to leave. I took over a lot of people and thought they were loyal. I don’t know whether we have any Harry Dexter Whites over there or not, but I have direct evidence that it is coming out of Treasury. Both Treasury and State are leaking and I want it stopped. You tell the Secretary I want it stopped. Mr. Carswell said we would see there were no leaks. The President said that if the Normandy plans were handled the way this balance of payments message was handled, Eisenhower would have never crossed the channel. And what’s worse, some of these leaks are mischievous. Check your doors and see who is coming in to see these people. They tell me they don’t have time to say anything about de Gaulle and then they turn around and simultaneously issue a statement and talk to reporters. The reporters tell me they are quite busy at Treasury and have a lot of speculative stories coming out of there, but always from people who won’t let themselves be quoted. Mr. Carswell said we would see there are no leaks. The President said Mr. Carswell should make it his personal assignment. The President said he wanted that balance of payments message out as soon as he can get it. If you have to work round the clock to get it out, we are going to get it out. The President said he did not want to read about this conversation in the press the way he had read about a conversation he had with the Budget Bureau last week. Mr. Carswell said that would not happen.
- Source: Kennedy Library, Dillon Papers, History File 1965, 1/65–3/65, Box 44. No classification marking. Drafted by Robert Carswell, Dillon’s Special Assistant.↩