Sources

The editors of the Foreign Relations series have complete access to all the retired records and papers of the Department of State: the central files of the Department; the special decentralized files (“lot files”) of the Department at the bureau, office, and division levels; the files of the Department’s Executive Secretariat, which contain the records of international conferences and high-level official visits, correspondence with foreign leaders by the President and Secretary of State, and memoranda of conversations between the President and Secretary of State and foreign officials; and the files of overseas diplomatic posts. When this volume was being compiled, the Department of State records consulted were still under the custody of the Department, and the footnotes citing Department of State files suggest that the Department is the repository. By the time of publication, however, all the Department’s indexed central files for these years had been permanently transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration (Archives II) at College Park, Maryland. Many of the Department’s decentralized office (or lot) files covering this period, which the National Archives deems worthy of permanent retention, are in the process of being transferred from the Department’s custody to Archives II.

The editors of the Foreign Relations series also have full access to the papers of President Johnson and other White House foreign policy records. Presidential papers maintained and preserved at the Presidential libraries include some of the most significant foreign affairs-related documentation from the Department of State and other Federal agencies including the National Security Council, the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Defense, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

In preparing this volume, the editor made extensive use of Presidential papers and other White House records at the Lyndon B. Johnson Library. Numerous White House memoranda, including memoranda to the President, testify to President Johnson’s concern with issues relating to the Federal Republic of Germany, especially the maintenance of personal ties with successive German Chancellors. The bulk of the foreign policy records at the Johnson Library are in the country files and other component parts of the National Security File.

The Department of State arranged for access to the many audiotapes of President Johnson’s telephone conversations that are held at the Johnson Library. These audiotapes include substantial numbers of telephone conversations between President Johnson and Secretary of State Rusk, Secretary of Defense McNamara, the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs McGeorge Bundy, and key members of Congress. The editor of this volume selected for publication two audiotapes [Page XVI] of President Johnson’s telephone conversations dealing with Germany. Transcripts were then prepared. Although the transcripts give the substance of the conversations, readers are urged to consult the recordings for a full appreciation of those dimensions that cannot be captured fully in a transcription, such as the speakers’ inflections and emphases that may convey nuances of meaning.

Second in importance only to the White House records at the Johnson Library were the records of the Department of State. The Department’s central files contain the cable traffic recording U.S. diplomatic relations with the Federal Republic of Germany, memoranda of diplomatic conversations, and memoranda proposing action or providing information. Some important documents are found only in the Department’s lot files. The Conference Files maintained by the Executive Secretariat contain briefing materials as well as records of conversations. Documentation on initiatives that were not approved is often found only in desk or bureau files. The Rusk Files contain records of Secretary Rusk’s telephone conversations.

The Central Intelligence Agency provides access to Department of State historians to high-level intelligence documents from those records in the custody of that Agency and at the Presidential libraries. This access is arranged and facilitated by the History Staff of the Center for the Study of Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency, pursuant to a May 1992 memorandum of understanding. Department of State and CIA historians continue to work out the procedural and scholarly aspects of identifying the key portions of the intelligence record.

The editor included a selection of intelligence estimates and analyses seen by high-level policymakers, especially those that were sent to President Johnson. Among the intelligence records reviewed for the volume were files of the Directors of Central Intelligence, especially John McCone,CIA intelligence reports and summaries, retired files of the Department of State’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research containing National Intelligence Estimates, and the INR Historical Files.

Almost all of this documentation has been made available for use in the Foreign Relations series thanks to the consent of the agencies mentioned, the assistance of their staffs, and especially the cooperation and support of the National Archives and Records Administration.

The following list identifies the particular files and collections used in the preparation of this volume. The declassification and transfer to the National Archives of these records is in process. Many of the records are already available for public review at the National Archives. The declassification review of other records is going forward in accordance with the provisions of Executive Order 12958, under which all records over 25 years old, except file series exemptions requested by agencies and approved by the President, should be reviewed for declassification by 2000.

[Page XVII]

Unpublished Sources

Department of State
- Central Files. See National Archives and Records Administration below.
- Lot Files. These files have been transferred or will be transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration at College Park Maryland, Record Group 59.
  - Conference Files: Lot 66 D 110
    - Documentation on international conferences attended by the President, Secretary of State, and other U.S. officials, May 1961–December 1964.
  - Conference Files: Lot 66 D 347
    - Documentation on official visits by heads of state and government and foreign ministers to the United States and on trips taken and international conferences attended by the President, Secretary of State, and other U.S. officials for 1965.
  - Conference Files: Lot 67 D 305
    - Documentation on international conferences attended by the President, the Secretary of State, and other U.S. officials, January 1966–October 1966.
  - Conference Files: Lot 67 D 586
    - Documentation on trips taken and international conferences attended by the President, the Secretary of State, and other U.S. officials, October 1966–May 1967.
  - Conference Files: Lot 67 D 587
    - Documentation on visits to the U.S. by heads of state and government and foreign ministers, October 1966–May 1967.
  - Conference Files: Lot 68 D 453
    - Documentation on trips taken and international conferences attended by the President, Secretary of State, and other U.S. officials, May 1967–January 1968.
  - Conference Files: Lot 69 D 182
    - Documentation on trips taken and international conferences attended by the President, Secretary of State, and other U.S. officials for 1968.
  - German Desk Files: Lot 76 D 170
    - Files of the Office of German Affairs and the Country Director for Germany.
  - Kohler Files: Lot 71 D 460
    - Files of Foy D. Kohler for 1962–1968, including memoranda of his discussions with Soviet Ambassador Dobrynin and Foreign Minister Gromyko.
  - NSC and Cabinet Files: Lot 72 D 318
    - Files on NSC Meetings, 1966–1968, the Cabinet, 1967, and the NSC Special Committee, 1967.
  - Presidential Correspondence: Lot 66 D 204
    - Correspondence of the President and Secretary of State with their counterparts in the Federal Republic of Germany and other countries, 1953–1964.
  - Presidential Correspondence: Lot 66 D 294
    - Correspondence of the President and Secretary of State with foreign officials, 1961–1965.
  - Presidential Correspondence: Lot 71 D 370
    - Correspondence of the President with foreign officials, 1961–1969.
  - Presidential Correspondence: Lot 77 D 163
    - Correspondence of Presidents Kennedy and Johnson with leaders of the Soviet Union, 1961–1969.
  - Secretary’s Memoranda of Conversation: Lot 65 D 330.
    - Memoranda of conversation of the Secretary and Under Secretary of State, 1961–1964.
  - SIG Files: Lot 74 D 344
    - Records of the Senior Interdepartmental Group and Interdepartmental Regional Groups, 1966–1969.
  - S/P Files: Lot 71 D 273
    - Subject Files of the Policy Planning Council, 1960–1968.
  - S/S-I Files Lot 79 D 246
    - Microfilmed master files of international conferences attended by the President, the Secretary of State, and other U.S. officials, 1956–1966.
  - Thompson Files: Lot 67 D 2
    - Files of Llewellyn E. Thompson, Jr., as Ambassador at Large, 1962–1966.
National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland
- Record Group 59, General Records of the Department of State
  - Subject-Numeric Indexed Central Files
  - Following are the principal files used for this volume:
    - DEF 18–6, arms control and disarmament: control measures
    - INCO GRAINS EEC, grain issues concerning the European Economic Community
    - NATO 3 BEL (BR), North Atlantic Treaty Organization meetings, Brussels
    - NATO 3 FR (PA), North Atlantic Treaty Organization meetings, Paris
    - NATO 3 LUX, North Atlantic Treaty Organization meetings, Luxembourg
    - NATO 3 UK (LO), North Atlantic Treaty Organization meetings, London
    - ORG 7 S, trips by Secretary Rusk
    - POL EUR E–EUR W, political affairs and relations between East and West Europe
    - POL EUR E–GER, political affairs and relations between Eastern Europe and Germany
    - POL FR–GER W, political affairs and relations between France and West Germany
    - POL GER W–US, political affairs and relations between the U.S. and West Germany
    - POL US–USSR, political affairs and relations between the U.S. and the Soviet Union
    - POL 1 EUR E–GER W, general policy and background concerning Eastern European-West German relations
    - POL 1 GER E–GER W, general policy and background concerning inner-German relations
    - POL 1 GER W, general policy and background concerning West Germany
    - POL 1 GER W–US, general policy and background concerning U.S.-West German relations
    - POL 7 GER W, visits and meetings concerning West Germany
    - POL 7 GER W–US, visits and meetings between U.S. and West German officials
    - POL 14 GER B, elections in Berlin
    - POL 14 GER W, elections in West Germany
    - POL 15 GER W, West German government
    - POL 15–1 GER W, head of state, executive branch in West Germany
    - POL 15–2 GER W, West German legislature (Bundestag)
    - POL 17 GER W–US, West German diplomatic and consular representation in the U.S.
    - POL 17–8 US, US contacts with Communist representatives
    - POL 23–4 GER, internal security issues involving Germany
    - POL 23–10 GER, travel control to Germany
    - POL 23–10 GER B, travel control to Berlin
    - POL 28 GER, government of occupied Germany
    - POL 28 GER B, government of Berlin
    - POL 32–1 GER, territory and boundary disputes, violations, and incidents in Germany
    - POL 32–3 GER-POL, partition of territory between Germany and Poland
    - POL 32–4 GER, unification of German territories
    - POL 38–6, quadripartite organizations on access to Berlin
    - POL 38–8, harassment and blockage of access to Berlin
    - PPV 7 GER W–US, news agencies and press associations in West Germany and the U.S.
- RG 220, Gift Collection
  - Papers of Robert S. McNamara
Lyndon B. Johnson Library, Austin, Texas
- Papers of Lyndon B. Johnson
  - National Security File
    - Country File
    - Head of State Correspondence
    - Memos to the President
    - National Intelligence Estimates
    - National Security Council Meetings File
    - Walt W. Rostow Files
    - Special Head of State Correspondence
  - Special Files
    - Meeting Notes File
    - President’s Daily Diary
    - Recordings and Transcripts of Telephone Conversations and Meetings
- Other Personal Papers
  - Francis M. Bator Papers
  - Clark M. Clifford Papers
  - Dean Rusk Papers
    - Personal Appointment Book
- John F. Kennedy Library
- Papers of John F. Kennedy
  - National Security Files
    - Countries Series, Germany

[Page XX]

Published Sources

Adenauer, Konrad. Reden, 1917–1967: Eine Auswahl. Edited by Hans-Peter Schwarz. Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 1975.
Brandt, Willy. My Life in Politics. New York: Penguin Books, 1992.
Current Digest of the Soviet Press. 1964–1968.
De Gaulle, Charles. Discours et Messages. 5 vols. Paris: Plon, 1970–1971.
Europa Archiv, 1964–1968.
Griffith, William E. Sino-Soviet Relations, 1964–1965. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1967.
Johnson, Lyndon B. The Vantage Point: Perspectives of the Presidency. New York: Holt, Rinehart, Winston, 1971.
McGhee, George C. At the Creation of New Germany: From Adenauer to Brandt, an Ambassador’s Account. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1989.
Meissner, Boris, ed. Die Deutsche Ostpolitik, 1961–1970. Kontinuitat und Wandel: Dokumentation. Cologne: Verlag Wissenschaft und Politik, 1970.
Remington, Robin A., ed. Winter in Prague: Documents on Czechoslovak Communism in Crisis. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1969.
Sulzberger, C. L. An Age of Mediocrity; Memoirs and Diaries. New York: Macmillan, 1973.
U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. Documents on Disarmament, 1962, 1967. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1963, 1968.
U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Government Operations, Subcommittee on National Security and International Operations. The Atlantic Alliance. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1966.
————. U.S. Troops in Europe: Hearings Before the Combined Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and Armed Services. United States Senate, 90th Congress, 1st Session. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1967.
U.S. Department of State. American Foreign Policy, 1950–1955: Basic Documents. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1957.
————. American Foreign Policy: Current Documents,1961–1968. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1965–1969.
————. Department of State Bulletin for 1964–1968. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1964–1968.
————. Documents on Germany, 1944–1985. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1985.
U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy. 3 vols. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1962–1964.
————. Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson. 5 vols. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1965–1969.

Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964–1968, Volume XV, Germany and Berlin

Sources