250. Editorial Note
On July 1, 1968, at a ceremony attended by representatives from 56 nations in the East Room of the White House, President Johnson made a statement endorsing the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which was opened for signature that day in Washington, London, and Moscow. For text of the President’s statement, see Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1968-69, Book II, pages 763-765.
In his statement President Johnson also announced: “Agreement has been reached between the Governments of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States to enter in the nearest future into discussions on the limitation and the reduction of both offensive strategic nuclear weapons delivery systems and systems of defense against ballistic missiles.” (Ibid., page 765)
For Kosygin’s suggested wording of this announcement, see Document 249.
Secretary Rusk and ACDA Director Foster signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty for the U.S. Government at this ceremony, and many other nations, including the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union, also promptly signed it. For text of the remarks of Secretary Rusk, British Ambassador Sir Patrick Dean, and Soviet Ambassador Dobrynin at the White House ceremony, see Department of State Bulletin, July 22, 1968, pages 87-88.
On July 9, President Johnson transmitted the treaty to the Senate. His accompanying message urged “that the Senate move swiftly to enhance our security and that of the entire world by giving its consent to the ratification of this treaty.” For text of his message, see Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1968-69, Book II, pages 801-803. Testimony on the treaty is in Nonproliferation Treaty: Hearings Before the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, Ninetieth Congress, Second Session (Washington, 1968), Nonproliferation Treaty: Hearings Before the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, Ninety-First Congress, First Session (Washington, 1969), Part 2, and Military Implications of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons: Hearings Before the Committee on Armed Services, United States Senate, Ninety-First Congress, First Session (Washington, 1969). Regarding the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s favorable report on the treaty on September 17, see footnote 2, Document 283. Because of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in August and preoccupation with the Presidential election campaign, however, full Senate action on the treaty was delayed until the incoming Nixon administration.
The Senate gave its consent to the agreement on March 13, 1969, by a vote of 83-15, and the treaty, which required the ratification of the United [Page 626] States, the United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and 40 other states, finally entered into force with the deposit of U.S. ratification at Washington, London, and Moscow on March 5, 1970. For text of the treaty, see 21 UST 483.
Regarding the position of the West German and other foreign governments on the treaty, see Documents 259 and 283. A survey and analysis of the status of the treaty in foreign nations is in CIA Intelligence Memorandum, No. 1582/68, “Prospects for the Nonproliferation Treaty,” November 27. (Johnson Library, National Security File, Subject File, Non-Proliferation Treaty, 7/21/67, Volume II, Box 26) For discussion of issues relating to Senate consent to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, see Document 293. Additional documentation on this question and U.S. ratification of the treaty is in Department of State, Central Files, DEF 18-6, and DEF 18 UN; and Johnson Library, National Security File, Subject File, Non-Proliferation Treaty, 7/21/67, Vol. II, Box 26.