Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964–1968, Volume XIV, Soviet Union

243. Memorandum From Nathaniel Davis of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Special Assistant (Rostow) and the President’s Deputy Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bator)¹

Washington, July 21, 1967.

SUBJECT

• Svetlana

As I am sure you know, the Svetlana book publication date is the subject of activity on several fronts. Yuri Zhukov has been complaining about it to visiting Americans in Moscow—particularly Harrison Salisbury and Arthur Schlesinger. Schlesinger wrote letters to Harper and Row and also Leonard Marks suggesting that publication be delayed. Schlesinger sent Dan Schorr a flimsy of his letter to Leonard Marks, and Dan broadcasted an account of it over CBS this morning. This understandably infuriated Leonard Marks, but he has by now calmed down enough so I think he will write Schlesinger a temperate reply.

Salisbury has gotten the New York Times worried (I understand they are afraid the Soviets will throw out their Moscow correspondents—which is a good possibility if they start serializing the book this October). Ambassador Thompson has also been discussing the matter with Kennan by telegram (Kennan is in Oslo).² Ambassador Thompson would like to see us influence Svetlana toward a brief postponement. Almost everybody in Washington (including me) think we should keep hands off. An official intervention would undoubtedly leak and there is probably enough pressure being applied as it is. It is undeniably true that the original selection of October for publication was unfortunate from the point of view of our relations with the Soviets, but there is not much the U.S. Government can usefully do about it now.

The Department is planning to answer press queries by sticking to our established line that this is a private matter in which we are not involved.³

ND

1. Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, USSR, Vol. XVI. Confidential.
2. See Document 240.
3. In telegram 11601 to Moscow, July 22, the Department told Thompson that it continued to believe that the U.S. Government should “not intervene in any way regarding book and its publication date.” (National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, Central Files 1967–69, POL 30 USSR)