379. Memorandum From the Ambassador at Large (Thompson) to Secretary of State Rusk0
SUBJECT
- Conversation with Ambassador Anatoliy F. Dobrynin, USSR, Sunday, November 24, 1963
The Ambassador asked to see me today for what he called a personal conversation, most of which related to the arrangements for Mr. Mikoyanʼs visit.1
He raised the question of Mr. Mikoyan seeing the President, and I told him what the tentative arrangements were. He asked about the Presidentʼs views on foreign affairs, and I pointed out how closely the new President had followed these matters and been kept informed by President Kennedy. I expressed the opinion that, in general, President Johnson would continue the broad policies established by President Kennedy, and drew his attention to the fact that President Johnson had assisted in the formulation of these policies. I said that naturally the new President would have a different style of operation, and I suspected would devote a larger proportion of his time to domestic affairs.
The Ambassador inquired about the relationship of the Attorney General to the new President, and I said I understood that they had worked well and closely together. I said that President Johnson had already expressed his intention to keep most of the Administration intact.
The Ambassador observed that the new President had traveled broadly and was obviously well informed about foreign affairs.
When the Ambassador pressed me for personal advice on Mr. Mikoyanʼs visit, I said that he would probably be invited to speak on television and that my personal view was that this was not a good time for him to do so regardless of what he said. The Ambassador seemed to agree with this point of view.
I also said that the new President would need time to settle into office, and that I personally thought that Mr. Mikoyan would be well advised not to stay for a long period in Washington on this visit. I pointed out that the public had been highly aroused by the assassination of President Kennedy, that in any country there were crackpots, and it was always possible that there could be unpleasant incidents such as [Page 833] demonstrations which would not be good for either country. The Ambassador also seemed to agree with this judgment.
At the end of our conversation, the Ambassador asked if President Johnson was informed about the private correspondence between President Kennedy and Chairman Khrushchev. I said that I was not sure that the new President had seen all of the exchanges, but assumed that any that he had missed would be brought to his attention if they were of current significance.