106. Editorial Note
On May 31, 1967, from 1:15 to 2:30 p.m., President Johnson held a luncheon meeting with Secretaries Rusk and McNamara, Vice President Humphrey, George Christian, and Walt Rostow. The latter’s agenda for the meeting indicates that next steps in the Near East crisis headed the agenda, with the focus on the Rusk-McNamara recommendations in Document 103. A briefing memorandum prepared for Secretary Rusk similarly indicates that the Rusk-McNamara recommendations would be discussed and lists three additional points under the topic Middle East Crisis. The first item, “Use of U–2,” is not further explained. An attached “G memo” (presumably a memorandum from Kohler) is not attached to the briefing memorandum. The second item states that the President wanted Rusk or Eugene Rostow to call in Harman and “indicate to him formally where the Eshkol letter exceeded the statement of our commitment.” The third item states that Sisco, Battle, and Meeker were forming a Task Force to consider urgently possible solutions other than the US/UK Maritime Plan, and that the President had told Walt Rostow that morning that he “wanted urgent work done on this.” (National Archives and Records Administration, RG 59, President’s Luncheon Memoranda: Lot 70 D 164)