Office of the Historian

618. Memorandum From the President to the Secretary of State1

Washington, December 7, 1960.

This refers to the memorandum on Cuba sent to me under date of December 2, 1960 by Doug Dillon.2

I approve the suggestions regarding the reorganization of the government’s program with respect to that country, except that I think Mr. Willauer should have a position directly subordinate to the Secretary of State for so long as Cuba remains a critical problem in our foreign relations. There should be no doubt as to the authority of the Special Assistant in the State Department (Mr. Willauer) to coordinate covert and overt activities, nor as to his responsibility for conveying policy guidance to the operating agencies. In their broad outline, these policies will, of course, be subject to the approval of higher authority.

D. D. E.3
  1. Source: Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, Dulles-Herter Series. Top Secret. Also published in part in Declassified Documents, 1983, 1346. In his memorandum of a meeting with the President on December 7, at 8: 45 a.m., Gordon Gray noted that he gave the President this memorandum “which had been prepared by General Goodpaster which reflected General Goodpaster’s impression of the President’s views. The President signed the memorandum as drafted.” (Ibid., Project “Clean Up” Records, Cuba)↩
  2. Document 615.↩
  3. Printed from a copy that bears these typed initials.↩